Plans for 139 homes in Whitehaven to be considered
Whitehaven's old chemical factory could be the site of nearly 139 homes, if planners approve them
A developer could get the go ahead to build more than 100 new homes in Whitehaven at a special meeting of Cumberland Council’s planning committee next week.
Members are due to meet at The Copeland Centre in the town on Tuesday (December 9) to consider the planning application from Persimmon Homes.
The development is for the former Marchon chemical factory in High Road and would involve building 139 residential dwellings at the site.
It is recommended that the application is granted subject to conditions and an agreement to:
- A travel plan monitoring fee of £6600;
- A contribution of £65,000 towards the improvements to the English Coastal
- Path in the vicinity of the development land;
- A contribution of £80,000 towards the enhancement of the active travel facilities on High Road;
- A contribution of £59,600 towards the highway improvement works at the Mirehouse Road/St Bees Road Junction within the vicinity of the development;
- And a viability reappraisal mechanism.
According to the report the application site covers an area of 28 hectares and is located on the south-western edge of Whitehaven, approximately 1.6km south of Whitehaven town centre and 2km west of the A595.
It states: “The southern portion of the site is previously developed land and was previously occupied by the former Marchon chemical factory.
“The northern portion of the site is greenfield, undeveloped land. The site is bordered to the west by agricultural land that falls towards the coast.
“This land contains a number of pedestrian routes including the English Coastal path between St Bees and Whitehaven, existing residential development lies to the east.
“South of the site is also land of the former Marchon chemical factory which had a consent for a coal mine which was subsequently quashed by the High Court.”
The application is a hybrid application which seeks detailed planning permission for phase 1 and outline permission for phase 2.
The report states: “An area of land is designated to provide a commercial related development within phase 2.
“A total of 139 dwellings are proposed in the full application with additional houses to be delivered on outline phase of the development, comprising in total 328 dwellings.”
According to the report the proposal will provide a mix of housing types and sizes including detached, semi-detached and terraced units. It adds: “The proposed dwellings comprise a mix of one, two and two and a half storeys. The two and a half storey dwellings have accommodation in the loft space.”