PLANNING approval is sought for a residential development in St Bees with room for two houses.

Land at Nethertown Road in St Bees could see a new residential development with two plots if an application made by Sunshine Properties West Coast Limited is successful.

Details of the applicant’s plans have been sent to Copeland Borough Council’s planning department.

They involve a 0.37 hectare stretch of land at Nethertown Road and it joins on to an already approved development site of three houses.

It also joins Nethertown Road to the west, the garden curtilage known as Southrigg to the north and the garden curtilage of Headland View.

In their planning statement, Sunshine Properties acknowledged that Copeland council will expect a high standard of design and “fostering of quality places.”

In their Development Management Policies, they said: “Respond positively to the character of the site and the immediate and wider setting and enhance local distinctiveness through an appropriate size and arrangement of development plots, the appropriate scale and massing of houses.”

They aim to “Incorporate existing features of interest including local vernacular styles and building materials.”

Sunshine Properties said: “The A595 which runs through Copeland can be joined 2.5 miles from the site and provides easy access to both Sellafield and Whitehaven and continues north towards Carlisle, and Egremont and Sellafield to the south. The A595 links to the A66, 13 miles north of the site which connects to Penrith and Junction 40 of the M6 to the east.”

The applicant will also be required to address vulnerability to crime and anti-social behaviour by ensuring design, location and layout creates “clear distinctions between public and private spaces.”

Sunshine Properties said in their documents for Copeland Council that the development would not be visible as part of the St Bees skyline.

A preliminary ecological appraisal carried out by Hesketh Ecology in the area found that the plans did not pose a risk to bats amphibians and badgers was “nil.”

The impact on breeding birds was considered to be “negligible” as no trees exist within the planned site’s boundaries.