Local Development Framework Consultation

Alternative Options/ The Preferred Options - PO14 - Milnthorpe Functional Area 2025

GREEN GAPS - Milnthorpe Functional Area - (page 165 in Core Strategy Preferred Options)

Oppose

GREEN GAPS
The green gaps option between Heversham and Milnthorpe and Ackenthwaite and Milnthorpe were included in the South Lakeland Local Plan before the proposal was made that these settlements should together form a single functional area. Perhaps these green gaps should now be reconsidered especially with regard to there being very little car parking provision in the town of Milnthorpe and easy pedestrian access to the town thus being very important. It might also be noted that whilst Heversham / Leasgill has provision for a rich social and communal life and thus a unique identity, Ackenthwaite has no public or other social amenities and can more readily be considered part of Milnthorpe.

Omit point 2 on page 165 and argue in the Core Strategy that the Green Gap option will continue to apply to communities that have a distinct identity but not in places where the communities already exist as a single community especially when the smaller community relies upon the larger one for all services.

The green gap option influences all thinking about the other options in the Milnthorpe Functional area so all the options for that area need to be reviewed once it is agreed that the Green Gap option should not apply between Milnthorpe and Ackenthwaite.

Adopted by the District Council

Submitted to the Secretary of State for independent examination

Alternative Options/ The Preferred Options - PO14 - Milnthorpe Functional Area 2025

Page 164 OPTION 1 Paragraph number 7 MILNTHORPE STATION
7 MILNTHORPE STATION (Core Strategy Preferred Options page 164)

Oppose

The report is negative re the Milnthorpe Site but does not suggest any alternative posability. The Milnthorpe Station site on the B6385 east of Ackenthwaite was originally the Libby’s canned milk factory. The Owlet Ash Fields estate at Ackenthwaite was built in part to provide accommodation for the workers. The B6385 is a country lane unsuited for the heavy lorries that frequent the station site and have occasional but financially costly accidents at the bridge over the canal at the Crooklands end of the road. There is a licensed inn next to the station. Might further consideration be given to planning for this site in relation, not only to employment, but also to the possibility of change of use including housing, with particular reference to access along a “B” road? Whilst one might assume that low cost housing should be as close as possible to essential services including a village primary school, most of the housing provision in the Core Strategy outline will not be low cost. Some might therefore be further from the Milnthorpe town centre on the assumption that families with higher incomes will have transport to travel for basic services and are likely to have to travel to places of employment

That the report should indicate flexibility regarding the consideration of the Milnthorpe Station site to ensure that in time it is used creatively - possibly for housing - and does not remain or become a brown field site for which no development provision has been considered.

Submitted to the Secretary of State for independent examination

Adopted by the District Council

4.63 - 4.64 PO14 - Milnthorpe Functional Area 2025 - Introduction

Page 164 Para 6 SOUTH EAST ACKENTHWAITE

Neither support nor oppose - just want to comment

6 SOUTH EAST ACKENTHWAITE
The area to the south east of Ackenthwaite behind Ackenthwaite Farm was not designated a County Landscape Area. There are scenic views but the landscape is not of particular interest and includes a large electricity sub station. The half dozen gardens are large and beautiful and the farm and one or two of the houses are historically interesting. This does not seem sufficient evidence to dismiss the site from further consideration. With careful planning, access onto the B6385 from here might be via the new island by the entrance to Dallam School. Much of the land is fairly low lying so buildings would make less adverse visual impact than if they were to be built on higher ground. If the Core Strategy is to list options to arrive at priorities, and be as flexible as possible for future revision, the evidence presented in the Core Strategy regarding this site seems vague and therefore inconclusive.

I would suggest the presentation of stronger evidence so that the decision to prioritize SOUTH EAST ACKENTHWAITE, further consider it, or dismiss it as unsuitable, has a firm foundation in fact.

Submitted to the Secretary of State for independent examination

Adopted by the District Council

Alternative Options/ The Preferred Options - PO14 - Milnthorpe Functional Area 2025

Page 164 OPTION 1 Para 1.NORTH MILNTHORPE

Oppose

We agree that views of St Anthony’s Tower should as far as practicable be kept open and we would add that it is desirable that the hilltop on which the tower stands should be preserved as meadowland. However some four to six houses have previously been built in North Milnthorpe that are plainly visible from a westerly aspect because they stand on or near to the top of the ridge on which the tower stands. They are to the south of the tower. If a line is drawn from the northern extremity of these visible houses (or from the adjacent power line pole) to the northern extremity of the Owlets Field Estate in Ackenthwaite, development areas for further consideration are to the south of that line. In particular land to the west of Haverflatts Lane north of the Haverflatts Lane entrance to Dallam school is worth considering along with an investigation of the state of the allotments and whether they can be transferred to a different site to allow development on their present site. Such developments would not obscure any views of the tower.

A fuller and more sympathetic consideration of some development off Haverflatts Lane to the North of the Dallam School entrance on Haverflatts Lane.

Adopted by the District Council

Submitted to the Secretary of State for independent examination

Alternative Options/ The Preferred Options - PO14 - Milnthorpe Functional Area 2025

page 164 OPTION 1 - Para 3 SOUTH EAST MILNTHORPE

Oppose

3. South East Milnthorpe

It is hard to oppose a statement that does not include a recommendation. However we consider that development might be possible in SOUTH EAST MILNTHORPE even if this is not spelled out or opposed in the Preferred Options. To the south east of Milnthorpe Parish Church stands the former vicarage and adjacent to the vicarage in a southerly direction is a large field that sits on and below the ridge that limits views to the east. This ridge makes it possible to allow development on this field without such development being visible from the east. The land over the ridge and to the east would have adverse visual impact if developed so the Bindloss Cottage Homes side of the ridge should if possible remain as meadow or woodland. The field in question is behind the primary school and some allotments that are not well attended. Plans might include provision for the expansion of the school perhaps on the allotments site. Distant views from the ridge are spectacular and might encourage the development of more expensive housing whilst there is a substantial hedge that shields the site from the school and housing at a lower level.

To include South East Milnthorpe as a possible area for housing in a flexible decision making process.

Adopted by the District Council

Submitted to the Secretary of State for independent examination

Alternative Options/ The Preferred Options - PO14 - Milnthorpe Functional Area 2025

Page 164 OPTION 1 - ALTERNATIVE DIRECTIONS OF GROWTH
Paragraph 5. NORTH ACKENTHWAITE
Page 168 TABLE 6 DETAILED INFORMATION ON EACH PREFERRED TOWN EXTENSION
Paragraph 2. NORTH ACKENTHWAITE
Land off Kirkgate Lane

Oppose

NORTH ACKENTHWAITE

The suggestion that in order to meet certain targets a large area of land outside the limit of North Ackenthwaite must be reserved for housing seems so inappropriate that it leads one to question the premise on which it is based. Such a development will change the whole balance of population distribution around Milnthorpe and make demands upon Ackenthwaite and Milnthorpe that one feels will not be sustainable.
It could well destroy the very character of Milnthorpe that makes it so attractive and suitable for some expansion but expansion that is gentle growth over the years in various pockets of development rather than one massive estate built on the very edge of Ackenthwaite in open countryside. It throws into question the way in which Ackenthwaite is to relate to Milnthorpe and whether Ackenthwaite and Milnthorpe have adequate resources and are capable of being appropriately integrated to sustain such a development. It should be noted the Ackenthwaite has no service provision of any kind in the village, whilst Milnthorpe has limited parking by the shops. To walk to Milnthorpe and back for many in Ackenthwaite is a challenge that will be even more demanding for the more elderly average population anticipated in fifteen years time. By then car ownership and running costs may well make going to the shops by car less possible and reliance upon foot travel and bicycle much greater..

Elsewhere I have outlined areas that might be considered for development around Milnthorpe and suggested that the Green Gap proposal, made even more unrealistic by the building of the Dallam School roundabout on the B6385, should be abandoned. These suggestions would lead to some limited opportunities for growth that would complement rather than unbalance the existing rich attributes of Milnthorpe as a place for business, shopping and habitation.

The housing built at North Ackenthwaite since 1970 has been fitted sympathetically and discretely into the landscape at about the 30-meter contour and the old workhouse designed by Francis Webster in 1815 has been converted into the houses that now make up Chelsea Court. As the Core Strategy Preferred Options states on page 164 “this recent housing forms a distinct boundary to the surrounding countryside, limited by the line of Kirkgate Lane (The Planning Officer agrees that “Haverflatts Lane” on page 164 should read “Kirkgate Lane”).

To the north and east of Kirkgate Lane, Ackenthwaite merges into a rich countryside. Beyond fields of cattle and sheep and the call and flight of the curlew there are views of Heversham Head and St Anthony’s Tower. A drumlin field stretches up to Beggarside Hill and the hedgerows that are typical of such terrain border Haverflatts Lane and Kirkgate Lane. These hedges form wildlife corridors that support rich plant growth and provide nesting places for birds and dens for animals. This is wonderful countryside where one can walk along public footpaths and quiet lanes or cycle in safety on trips between places such as Kendal and Milnthorpe. The South Lakeland Local Plan designated North Ackenthwaite as a County Landscape where development would only be allowed to meet local infrastructure needs that could not be located elsewhere. We feel that every effort should be made to adhere to such a policy.

One realises that the Core Strategy gives opportunity to plan for house building and to provide for those who cannot compete in the housing market. However, if we allow development to destroy the very attractive environment of town and country that helps make housing and employment opportunities so desirable we shall have done damage that cannot be repaired. Further careful consideration and integrated planning of a well-balanced development of the Milnthorpe Functional Area is surely called for. The emphasis we suggest in such consideration should be on several pockets of development as near as possible to Milnthorpe town centre and an avoidance of developing a large estate on open countryside in North Ackenthwaite.

I would suggest that Milnthorpe part of the report as a whole takes on board the delicate nature of changing the present structure and therefore for the Core Strategy at this stage to be more open. To first establish what house building and industrial development in the whole of the Milnthorpe Functional Area is feasible in the light of developments that will be needed to provide services in the town and transport. To prioritize this early thinking part of the process and the investigation of local perceptions, needs and opportunities before prioritizing a specific course of action. If this has already been done it is not obvious from the PO14 part of the report.