Plans for the construction of 58 new homes on the outskirts of Barrow will be up for discussion at the next meeting of the local council’s planning committee. The proposal by Holbeck Homes Ltd would involve the building of two-, three- and four-bedroom properties on land north of Leece Lane and east of Holbeck Park Avenue.

According to a transport assessment, each of the properties will come with a minimum of two parking spaces. The land earmarked for development, which is currently used as horse pasture, is 44,000 square metres in size and part of a larger 64,300 square metre area designated for housing, with an estimated total yield of 135 properties.

As part of the plan, six of the homes will be classified as affordable, exceeding the 10% requirement of local policy. This 58-home development is considered phase one of the larger project, and the planning committee has been advised by case officer Maureen Smith to support the proposal in principle.

However, some residents have raised concerns, with seven letters of objection having been received. These concerns include issues such as parking and potential harm to wildlife, which have been addressed in Ms Smith’s report.

Councillor Tony Callister, of the Labour Party, has criticised the Conservative government for the need to consider an overdraft facility in the council’s budget. “The Conservative government has practically put this country into bankruptcy,” he said.

Despite these objections, the county council’s highways department has indicated that parking provision for the proposed properties is acceptable. The proposal will be discussed in further detail at the upcoming council meeting on March 14.

The access road to the development is another point of contention, with the applicant suggesting that initial access should be via Kempas Avenue, with access from Leece Lane to be created at a later date. However, the borough council has a preference for access from Leece Lane to avoid traffic passing through the Kempas Avenue public open space.

“The compromise would see access coming from Kempas Avenue for an initially agreed number of dwellings only and then this access would be closed off and retained as an emergency and cycle route only. The access off Leece Lane would have to be completed before the end of phase one,” Ms Smith said in her report.

Regardless of the outcome of the planning committee’s discussions, a final decision on the scheme will be delegated to the borough council’s head of development management.