COUNCILLORS will be asked to approve a piece of land in Whitehaven for 23 new homes.

A planning application to build 23 homes on land at Harras Road has been submitted to Copeland Borough Council for approval.

Plans involve a site currently used as agricultural land on the Northern side of Harras Road, the site frontage runs west to east along Harras Road.

John Swift Homes Limited has submitted the reserved matters application.

A reserved matters application gives more detail on plans that have already approved been approved in outline, in this case at a meeting of the planning panel in March 2019.

A separate application was submitted and approved in August for works to the appearance of plot one and landscaping for boundaries of the site.

Works began at the site in January of this year.

Outline plans were approved for around nine homes, but as is often the case, the reserved matters application updates the scheme, now asking for permission to build 21 homes.

In a Design and Access Statement, the applicant said: “Whilst the development makes more efficient use of the site than the previously approved scheme it also introduces substantial areas of landscaping and retains a relatively low density. The continuous hard and soft landscaping to the front boundary will create a level of continuity which would not have been delivered by the self-build plots approved under [the previous scheme].”

The proposal involves creating three groups of dwellings off Harras Road with a field access.

“This reduces the number of accesses onto Harras Road from five to four in comparison to the approved scheme.

“The replacement of paved driveways with a junction arrangement is considered to represent an improvement.”

The applicant said that a cul-de-sac arrangement allows vehicles to be parked clear of Harras Road in the boundaries of the plots and “discourage roadside parking.”

The public can view and comment on all applications submitted to Copeland Council for approval.

To view applications submitted for your area, visit: https://www.copeland.gov.uk/planning