AN APPLICATION to build 84 houses on land on the outskirts of Kendal has been refused by planning councillors.

The land to the south of Underbarrow Road, Kendal, is part of a larger area identified as suitable for residential development in the council’s own land allocations development plan.

But members of South Lakeland District Council’s (SLDC’s) planning committee yesterday (Thursday) rejected the plans on the grounds that they failed to meet the high quality sustainable residential development required by the ‘development brief’ for the site.

A development brief is a planning document drawn up for large or complex development sites, following extensive consultations, that guides the type of housing or employment scheme the council envisages for the land.

A report by planning officers considered that the application for the site, which is located between the boundary of the National Park and close to the edge of Kendal’s conservation area, did not meet the high standards required by the development brief, and recommended the plans be refused.

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Planning officers said the proposals were 'not of the quality, type or layout we would expect to see on such a sensitive site'.

Proposing the application be refused, Councillor Philip Dixon said: “This is a bold decision for the planning officers to recommend refusal for an application on a site that has been allocated for housing in the Local Plan.

“But it is correct that we should refuse this application because it doesn’t take account of the development brief.’’

Fellow planning committee member Councillor David Fletcher said: “Developers need to be aware that just because this land has been allocated for housing and we have been through this process does not mean we will rubber-stamp any application if we think it isn’t of sufficiently high quality.’’

When the proposal was put to the vote the application was refused unanimously on the grounds laid out in the officer’s recommendation.