Kendal Parks housing plan approved despite councillors’ doubts over access and 160-home capacity

Plans for up to 160 homes at Kendal Parks have been approved in principle, despite councillors openly questioning whether the development can fit on the site with a workable access.

Westmorland and Furness Council’s Strategic Planning Committee considered application SL/2022/0490 on 17 September 2026. The committee’s draft minutes record two votes in favour, none against and three abstentions. Three of the committee’s eight members had sent apologies.

The outline permission covers 7.7 hectares of grazing land and the Kendal Golf Driving Range east of Hayclose Road, next to Oxenholme station. It does not approve a final layout, house designs or access roads: all of those matters are reserved for a later application.

Why the committee approved the scheme

The minutes record unusually frank reservations about the proposal. Councillors questioned whether 160 homes could be built on the site and whether the access arrangements would work.

Cllr L Baker said she agreed it was unlikely that 160 houses could be built on the site with access. However, because the land is allocated for housing, she felt a refusal would be difficult to defend.

The council’s Senior Lawyer advised members against refusing the application for lack of information. The minutes say the council had one month after the application arrived to request more detail, and that the proposal complied with the development plan and national policy.

Members were told that if the access issue cannot be resolved, the reserved matters application would not be granted. Cllr H Carrick said she was concerned the scheme was not viable but moved the recommendation, saying members had to decide the matter under planning law.

Access, traffic and station concerns remain

The indicative main access is from Oxenholme Road, close to Oxenholme station. Kendal Town Council told the committee the junction was “chaotic, dangerous and constrained” and asked for the entrance to be restricted to emergency vehicles, cyclists and walkers.

Residents who spoke against the proposal said the development would have no second access if that entrance could not be used. Officers said access was a reserved matter and was not settled by the outline decision.

Cllr R Audland said Oxenholme station was already dangerous at busy times and warned that further development could worsen an already serious parking problem. He also raised the question of bin storage: with up to five bins per home, the site could require room for up to 800 bins.

Any future access application must include a full Transport Assessment and junction-capacity analysis for Oxenholme Road, based on a fresh traffic survey. If the proposed access proves undeliverable, the developer would have to submit a new application.

The approval also includes up to £96,000 towards transport and pedestrian-crossing improvements at the A65 Burton Road, Oxenholme Road and Heron Hill junction. A further £160,000 is intended for the cycle route between Oxenholme station and Kendal town centre.

Affordable homes and next steps

The proposal includes 35% affordable housing. The applicant’s agent said that could mean up to 56 affordable homes, but the requirement is not yet guaranteed.

The planning officer said the 35% figure “may change going forward” if the developer makes a viability case. The council’s Senior Development Manager also warned that the final number could be affected because viability was not yet known. Residents said the cost of the access and ground conditions could later be used to reduce the affordable-housing share. The town council asked for the 35% requirement to be protected from a later viability assessment, but the decision does not do so.

None of the financial contributions or the permission is final until a section 106 agreement is signed. The council will not issue the permission until that happens. Once permission is issued, the developer has three years to submit the reserved matters application.

Two United Utilities trunk water mains run beneath the site. The applicant’s agent said it might be possible to build a road over the pipework, while the planning officer said United Utilities had requested conditions to be dealt with at the reserved-matters stage.

The committee also approved requirements for a Biodiversity Gain Plan before work starts, and for plans covering bat boxes, bird boxes and bee bricks before above-ground construction.

Eleven late representations were submitted, all objecting to the scheme. Four residents spoke against it, while the agent, McDonald Wilkinson Tonge, spoke in support and said substantial developer interest would not progress until outline permission was granted.

For residents of Kendal Parks and Hayclose Crescent, construction has not started. The layout, building heights and access will be considered through separate applications, each with its own consultation. Comments about overlooking, the field edge and access will be relevant at that stage. People seeking an affordable home should treat the 35% figure as a starting position until the section 106 agreement and reserved matters are approved.

The council’s planning register lists the application under SL/2022/0490. Station users and nearby residents will need to watch for the future access application, which must include the full Transport Assessment.