Plans to build apartments in a Lake District town for local people have been refused because they would add to parking problems in the area.
Watch This Space wanted to create the homes at Windermere Business Centre on Oldfield Court in the town.
The two-storey apartments would be over a stair lobby and garages on the ground floor.
But the Lake District National Park Authority said the proposed development would exacerbate existing parking problems in the area.
It said: “The proposal would result in the loss of seven parking spaces from the existing parking provision for the business centre.
“The proposed development would result in the displacement of cars to nearby streets in an area which is known to have an on-street parking problem.
“This displacement would exacerbate existing problems and pose a highway safety risk to both users of the highway and pedestrians.”
The plans received 26 letters of objection from nearby residents as well as a recommendation for refusal by Windermere and Bowness Town Council.
The town council said the proposed apartments were an unnecessary imposition on a small and crowded site.
It said: “Our principal objections being to the intrusion on the privacy and amenity of neighbouring properties, the overdevelopment of the site and further pressure on parking.”
