A GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR will decide whether up to five 'large' homes can be built in the Lake District after an appeal was lodged.

Bordriggs Farm Windermere Limited has submitted an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate after an outline planning application to build up to five local occupancy homes on land off Kendal Road in Bowness was refused by the Lake District National Park Authority.

A decision notice issued by national park planners said the proposed construction of five four-bedroom properties would cause ‘harm’ to the nearby Bordriggs listed building and the character of the area.

It adds: “The benefit of delivering five four-bedroom local needs homes (for which there is lesser identified need than for smaller homes), does not outweigh the harm to the designated heritage assets and protected landscape, that have been identified.”

However, an appeal statement, says according to ONS data each household would contribute an average of £12,000 a year in retail and leisure sectors, which the appeal statement says would help support local businesses.

It adds: “The new homes would also provide social benefits and support social networks by providing local occupancy housing in the Key Rural Service Centre of Bowness, which is recognised as a settlement and community impacted by second home ownership and retirement properties.

“Older people living in the area can downsize, and local residents can benefit from the reduction in price resulting from the local occupancy planning condition, enabling them to buy where they grew up, and growing local families can move into larger homes.”

Windermere and Bowness Council previously recommended refusal to the proposals as although they ‘recognise the need’ for local occupancy housing, their response to the plans states they have concerns over the impact on the historical landscape.

The proposed site is located one kilometre south of Bowness and lies next to grade II listed Bordriggs Farm.

A design and access statement says: “The site lies within the confines of Bowness, a key service centre that is one of the key areas for focusing new housing and employment growth, with the scale of the development being in-keeping with character of the area and responding to the identified local housing need.”

The heritage statement adds: “It is considered that the proposals would not have a negative impact on the heritage significance of the listed buildings at Bordriggs Farm as the archaeological, aesthetic, architectural and historic interests would remain.

“There is the potential for there to be a negative impact on the setting of Bordriggs Farm through the introduction of new built form, particularly to the north side of the site, but this impact can be reduced by ensuring the new dwellings are separated from the listed buildings as much as possible.”

The appeal is currently being considered by the Planning Inspectorate.