A CONTROVERSIAL planning application for 37 homes on the edge of a South Lakeland village has been recommended for refusal.

Opponents of the submission from L&W Wilson (Higham) Ltd have expressed concerns about an increase in traffic and a perceived lack of the necessary infrastructure to cope with the scheme at Allithwaite.

The application, a resubmission, is to be scrutinised by a meeting of the district council's planning committee on Thursday. 

The site, situated off Locker Lane and the B5277, would comprise a mixture of one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom properties, 13 of them affordable. 

To the south, it would wrap around a cluster of existing buildings, including Barn Hey and Barn Hey Cottage, which are Grade II-listed.

Properties at numbers 14 to 37 would have their own driveways, with 14 to 20, 25, 33 and 34 having single garages.

Numbers one to 13 would be served by a 24-space parking area.

In a report produced ahead of Thursday's meeting, case officer Liz Arnold recommends the application for refusal. 

In her list of reasons, she says around 0.33 hectares of the site lies outside of the Allithwaite development boundary and the Barn Hey housing allocation. 

"The dwellings located within this section constitute new houses within the open countryside," she says.

"New dwellings within the open countryside must have an essential requirement providing robust evidence for the housing need and be 100 per cent affordable in perpetuity.

"All of the proposed dwellings in this location are open market and no evidence for their need has been presented."

Ms Arnold also says the properties 'are not considered to be of a particularly high quality', offer 'little in the way of architectural interest or identity' and 'lack any real sense of place'.

She refers to the 'overbearing impact' of the development on heritage assets and its 'unacceptable impact' on landscape character.

A total of 27 representations have been submitted in relation to the application.

Linda and Brian Houston say: "The village has no shop or post office, a poor bus service, no doctor, and the school has very limited space for further expansion and provision of outdoor learning."

Eileen Emmett says: "Locker Lane is already in a very poor state, with numerous deep potholes, and is already unfit for the amount and type of vehicles using this road."