Planning Permission Granted

Having had our planning submission validated in July 2021 it has unfortunately taken until May 2022 to reach a planning committee hearing. The extensive delays were a direct consequence of an already under resourced public sector struggling to cope with the backed up demand following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Thankfully, however, the effort and patience of the design team paid off with a near unanimous level of support for our proposals at Currock Yard.

The committee approved a "Minded To Grant" decision which delegates the final issue of a Planning Consent Notice to the Case Officer. The conditions associated with that final approval are signing a S106 Agreement and finding a resolution to Nutrient Neutrality issues which are affecting large areas of the UK at present, particularly Carlisle.

Whilst the former is a straightforward matter to deal with, the latter is not. It is Carlisle City Council's duty, as Competent Authority, to satisfy themselves our proposals will have no impact on nutrient levels within the nearby Special Area of Conservation (SAC). As it stands, the council have no solution for how they are able to do that, nor the funding required to carry out the necessary assessments needed to provide a solid evidential base.

Although, as Applicant, we can do little to drive this on, we continue to engage with the council to try and assist with a sensible way forward.