BUSINESSES in a Lake District village may be forced to remove their modern uPVC windows after the frames came under the critical gaze of national park planners, reports Karen Barden.

Firms in Coniston now face spending thousands of pounds to replace the plastic windows with more traditional ones after the number of uPVC frames in the village caught the eye of Lake District National Park members during a site visit.

Members of the LDNPA's development control committee will be considering enforcement action against firms who have installed plastic windows without the necessary planning consent at their next meeting on June 3.

The move followed a site visit in connection with a planning application for a porch at Spindles Restaurant on Lakes Road.

While sizing up the plans, members spotted the eateries' 22 new uPVC windows that were fitted over the last year at a cost of around £20,000. They then noted many other plastic-rimmed windows in commercial premises across Coniston, prompting them to order an officers' report so the committee could decide whether to tackle the planning breaches.

Spindles owner Stefan Forsgardh assumed he did not need planning permission since the restaurant was not a listed building and neighbouring properties were fitted with uPVC windows.

"I wouldn't put plastic windows in Hawkshead that is a quaint village but Coniston is a working village and I think plastic windows set against stone not render don't look too bad," he said. "I know the planners always fall back on the law, of course they are right, but a bit of common sense wouldn't go amiss sometimes."

Other firms argued that action was unnecessary.

Elaine Taylforth of the Coniston Dairy Tea Room, which has uPVC windows on its upper floor, did not believe the village had a problem with unsightly windows. "They look fine," she said. "It's the modern thing."

A local businesswoman, who did not wish to be named, said the authorities should concentrate on repairing neglected dry-stone walls and potholed roads rather than windows.

"There are other more important things than a witch hunt over windows," she said.

LDNPA senior planning officer Norman Atkins said the authority would have to carefully consider its next step.

"It doesn't necessarily follow that having noted the problem any enforcement action will be justified. Each case would have to be considered and justified. In some cases it might not be in other instances it might like a particularly prominent building or a poorly designed window."

May 23, 2003 09:30