CONCERNS have been raised over the impact a housing development would have on a Quaker meeting house in Cartmel.

Developers have submitted plans to South Lakeland District Council to build nearly 40 houses on land in Haggs Lane.

The development would be near the Friends Meeting House used by the Cartmel Quaker Meeting for Sunday worship.

A key tenet of the Quaker belief system is worship through contemplative silence.

A comment submitted to the SLDC planning committee on behalf of the Cartmel meeting read: "We ask that, should planning permission be granted, a condition be incorporated into the planning consent that there be no work or presence on site on Sunday mornings.

"This is to preserve the stillness of our Meeting for worship which is held every Sunday morning and is a form of religious worship based on silence."

At a meeting of the Lower Allithwaite Parish Council, which met on September 14, councillors gave their approval for the development.

However, they indicated conditions they would like attached to the development if approved.

They included work being restricted to between 6am and 6pm Monday to Friday and that no deliveries are made during school hours; Cartmel Primary School also being situated very close to the development site.

If granted approval by SLDC, the entrance to the development will be situated on land opposite Cartmel Surgery.

Of the 39 homes to be built, 14 have been allocated as affordable. Holbeck Homes, the developer, are in negotiations with SLDC housing development partners to finalise this arrangement.

As well as concerns raised about the noise of the development impacting the local Quaker meeting, the issue of road safety was also broached.

One resident, commenting, said: "Haggs Lane is becoming a very busy road on which traffic travels at very high speeds owing to the lack of speed restrictions between Cartmel and Grange Fell, and there have been numerous accidents, particularly on blind corners."

A date has not yet been set when the planning committee for the district council will decide on the application.

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