A PLANNING application for 330 houses to be built on farmland is being recommended for approval.

READ MORE:  Fears over Ulverston housing developments

People living near to the proposed site at Nook Farm, Colt House, Ulverston, are worried about the scale of the development and fear the extra cars on narrow country lanes could be a safety risk. 

The proposal will be discussed by the planning committee at South Lakeland District Council on Thursday. The application proposes that 330 houses are built, which will include 112 affordable homes. 

The original planning application asked for 355 but the number has been reduced after negotiations. The proposal also includes the development of three access roads into the site, two from Urswick Road and one from Mountbarrow Road. A link road will then join up inside the estate. 

In total 11 letters of objection have been received. A resident of West Hills Drive said: "The excessive number of houses proposed will impact dramatically on the number of cars, cyclists and pedestrians coming from these developments onto the narrow country lanes in the area. 

"Safety must figure highly on the council's agenda when assessing the viability of this as there have been numerous accidents." Gareth Nicklin from Urswick Road voiced his concerns about surface drainage in a letter to SLDC. 

He said: "The critical problem with this site is how the surface drainage will be managed. "The eastern edge of the site next to Mountbarrow Road routinely floods. "Once the area is largely covered in tarmac then this will become worse." 

Debbie Storr, SLDC's director of policy and resources, has recommended that the planning committee grant planning permission subject to a number of conditions. One of these is that the current 30mph speed restriction in Urswick Road and Mountbarrow Road be extended beyond the access points to the site. 

Another condition is that when the link road between Mountbarrow Road and Urswick Road is completed a provision should be made for a bus route. 

SLDC's local plan includes proposals to earmark land for 1,200 new houses at Croftlands and on land at Cross-a-Moor in Swarthmoor by 2025.