WESTMORLAND and Furness councillors have given the green light for a housing developer to build 24 new homes in Kendal.

Members of the strategic planning committee for Westmorland and Furness unanimously approved the proposals from developer Story Homes to construct more houses on the Land at Brigsteer Road at the County Hall on Tuesday (September 19).

The planning proposal is approved with the conditions that it provides 8 units of affordable housing, manages and maintains on site open space, provides £12,170 towards off-site open space and contributes £50,715 to Cumbria Wildlife Trust.

This is the third phase of development in the area, with 88 homes already having planning approval from phases one and two. Overall, the area has been earmarked for 189 properties.

According to the report prepared for this meeting the site lies on the west side of Kendal and is approximately 1km from Kendal Town Centre. The location is bounded to the north by Brigsteer Road, open countryside to the south, countryside then the A591 to the west and ongoing residential development to the east.

A spokesperson for Story Homes said: “We welcome the decision by Westmorland and Furness Council's Strategic Planning Committee to grant planning permission for our proposals to build 24 high quality new homes on what will be the third phase of our popular Brigsteer Rise development in Kendal. Our proposals will include a variety of one to five-bedroom homes, including affordable properties, from the Story collection, a range of homes with flexible, open plan living spaces.

“We’re delighted to bring more of our high-quality homes to Kendal, with the new development phase continuing to support existing local businesses and create additional employment through new opportunities for local subcontractors and the supply chain.”

However according to a report prepared by Westmorland and Furness council for this meeting, Kendal Town Council recommend rejecting the proposal due to there being no play area to the south of the development and a lack of provision for biodiversity gain. The Town Council are also concerned about the impact the development may have on traffic.

Chris Bagshaw, Kendal Town Council clerk said: “Net biodiversity gain is a very keen issue for my council and the council doesn’t feel this application reflected the importance of net biodiversity gain in this process.”

Although the report states there will be a loss of biodiversity on the site, the developer has reached an agreement with Cumbria Wildlife Trust to make a financial contribution of £50,715 towards improving approximately 2.4 hectares of grassland at Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve and maintaining it for a minimum 30-year period.

However not all are impressed with this proposal and Mr Bagshaw added: “Foulshaw Moss is over the hill and far away and if we are going to get net biodiversity gain from development in the town it would be nice if it actually was in Kendal.”

The previous application to build 88 dwellings in phases one and two of the housing allocation was approved in January 2022.

During the meeting members of the public and members of Kendal Town Council raised concerns over future development impacting the use of Cedar Grove and stressed the importance of keeping it for active travel and emergency vehicle use only.

Councillor Matt Severn (Kendal Highgate, Lib Dems), said that he hopes the committee notes the issues raised by members of the public and the town council over the use of the road in future planning applications.