Welsh slate should not be allowed on the roofs of a new housing development in Keswick’s conservation area, say town councillors.
Allowing developers to fit “blue-grey reclaimed Welsh slate” on the new homes, when planning permission was granted on condition locally-mined Lakeland green slate tiles were used, would give a “green light” for other house builders to do the same in future, local planners at Keswick Town Council have said.
The town council has now officially objected to the proposal by Atkinson Homes.
Atkinson’s argues that Welsh slate is more predominant in Keswick than many realise.
To make the case, it has submitted photographic examples of 18 properties in close proximity to the new Striding Edge Court development, which all have Welsh slate on the roof.
In May last year, it won permission from the Lake District National Park Authority to create four new homes in Helvellyn Street, consisting of two cottages and two apartments, all with two bedrooms.
With work well under way at the former Acorn Garage site, company officials in Penrith have applied to the LDNPA seeking permission to make a “minor” amendment to a planning condition.
Instead of having to use local green slate on the roof, which is mined or quarried in Cumbria, it wants to use reclaimed Welsh slate on the roof of two of the properties which front onto the street.
The company has also told the national park that Welsh slate is prevalent throughout Keswick and has historic links to the times when the town had a railway when Welsh slate was brought in.
But Cllr Duncan Miller, a member of Keswick Town Council’s three-member planning panel — which has the role of deciding whether to support, object or stay neutral on planning applications submitted to the LDNPA — said the council remains opposed to the sudden switch.
Cllr Miller said: “We think this is inappropriate as the new development is in the Keswick conservation area and the application was originally approved with the condition that requires the roofs in the Helvellyn Street area to be local green Cumbrian slate.
“Whilst examples have been provided of isolated individual buildings in the locality where Welsh slate has been used, the predominant roof covering there is local green slate.
“To approve this request would be a green light for any future buildings to be allowed to use Welsh slate, particularly in the conservation area.”
The point of the condition, according to the LDNPA, is to ensure “a satisfactory standard of appearance” in the area by using traditional materials, and it also accords with Lake District planning policies.
Atkinson’s said in response: “We are proposing to apply for a minor material amendment seeking to amend the proposed roofing slate for the building fronting Helvellyn Street.
“Although many slate roofs in Keswick are local green slates, Welsh slate has been used from the mid-late 19th century onwards when it was imported by railway because it was more cost effective.
“In recent years, the use of Welsh slate is considered to be an acceptable alternative to the previously approved local slates.
“This is because there is historical precedent for the use of Welsh slate along the route of the former Cockermouth, Keswick, Penrith railway line, which consequently made Welsh slate a popular product in this locality from Victorian times.”
