Residents of a Lake District village near Keswick have warned that plans for 12 new homes off the busy A66 are in the wrong place.
A mix of two and three-bedroom properties are being pencilled in for a triangular piece of grazing land at Braithwaite, complete with gardens and spaces for up to 27 cars.
The site of the major development sits close to a junction with the A66 and the road leading to Thornthwaite.
Applicants Hallgarth Estate, represented by town planning agents in Lancaster, have applied to the Lake District National Park Authority for outline consent to start with.
Five of the 12 properties are proposed for local occupancy with the remaining seven to be affordable housing.
A number of neighbours overlook the field, including private houses, flats and country guest house Maple Bank with views towards Skiddaw and Latrigg.
Long-standing resident Douglas Gentles, who lives nearby, said he was not opposed to affordable housing as his own children had struggled to find property in his home county of Cumbria.
But he felt that trying to squeeze 12 houses on a strip of land next to a junction of the A66 – was “ridiculous and dangerous.”
Mr Gentles said: “There is a need for local affordable housing but they won’t be able to access the A66 directly, so they will all need to come on to the Thornthwaite Road.
“As soon as there is an accident on this part of the A66, the Thornthwaite Road becomes the A66, so it’s the wrong place.”
Another resident overlooking the proposed area described the site’s proximity to the A66 as not “terribly appropriate” as a place to live.
This was due to the proximity of noisy traffic on the fast-moving A66, he said.
“The problem is you get people driving along the A66 at a fair rate of knots. Down there, I would have thought the noise would be an issue.
“The Highways Agency once carried out a traffic assessment to do with a crossing over to the Institute and they were quite surprised at the speed.”
He added: “I understand the need to provide sites for affordable housing and others, but all this is really is a result of a total lack of Government planning policy for housing in national parks.
“I don’t think it will provide a sufficiently high degree of amenity for residents due to the proximity of the A66. I don’t think it’s an appropriate site for housing.”
In a formal letter of objection to the LDNPA, nearby resident Guy Lawson called for the application to be refused.
He said the field was in an area home to “extensive wildlife, including red squirrels,” and development would have a “significantly detrimental effect” on the biodiversity.
The agents have said the plans would boost the supply of homes to meet local housing needs and help create “balanced communities”.
It said its plans for access would allow the site to be safe for motorists, and it has submitted assessments addressing any issues such as noise, ecology, drainage and flood risk.
It suggests “acoustic fencing and glazing” would be required for “noise sensitive rooms,” and described species habitat of the field hedgerow s as “poor, “ with housing “unlikely to have any impact,” it said.
An access review, submitted as part of the application, stated: “There have been no recorded accidents on the local road in the vicinity of the site. In addition, there have been no recorded accidents at the local road access with the A66 in the most recent five-year period. “
The national park has a policy to provide a minimum of 1,200 new permanent homes to meet local community need between 2020 and 2035.
Two-bedroom affordable houses are one of the highest areas of need locally, according to Allerdale Borough Council, which has no objection to the development.
- We have been asked to point out that an earlier photograph used to illustrate this story showing Maple Bank was used incorrectly. We apologise for the error.
