Approval recommended for 65 Cumberland houses, £24m sheds
Story Homes plans for a neighbourhood close to Hadrian’s Wall have been tipped for a green light from council officers, as have proposals for 68,400 sq ft of industrial buildings at the Cleator Moor Innovation Quarter, a Carlisle Station car park, and the transformation of the Cleator Moor library into a community hub.
The projects will be voted on by the Cumberland Council planning committee next week.
Hadrian’s Camp
A former army camp could become a housing estate if planning approval can be garnered from Cumberland councillors.
To be known as Hadrian’s Camp, the proposed neighbourhood from Story Homes comprises a mix of 65 semi-detached and detached houses. These residences would have between two and four bedrooms.
A total of 13 affordable homes are also promised, with eight to have two bedrooms and five to have three. The homes would be a mix of affordable rental properties and those open for a 30% discounted market sale.
Plans worked up by Ashwood Design Associates also include nearly one-acre of public open space.
Access to the more than five-acre neighbourhood would be from Gladwin Drive, on the southern edge of Houghton.
The site is within walking distance of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Hadrian’s Wall, less than a mile away at its closest point.
Story Homes is working with Sam Greig Planning, Curtins, Westwood Landscape Design, Wardell Armstrong, RS Acoustic Engineering, and Urban Green on the application. You can review the documents by searching reference 25/0521 on Cumberland Council’s planning portal.
The sheds form part of the wider Cleator Moor Innovation Quarter. Credit: via planning docs
ISH Enterprise Campus sheds
Cumberland Council’s £23.6m plans to construct two general industrial and office buildings totalling 68,400 sq ft have been recommended for approval by the local authority’s own officers.
Designed by NORR Architecture, the sheds would sit on an 8.7-acre plot within the 1940s Leconfield Industrial Estate in Cleator Moor.
The estate is part of a wider £50m Cleator Moor Innovation Quarter, a regeneration effort from the council and partners Sellafield, Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, and Enterprising Cumbria.
The Cleator Moore Innovation Quarter project seeks to create a cluster for nuclear and green energy companies.
The two sheds up for debate at next week’s planning committee meeting play a role in crafting that ecosystem, as they are designed to act as start-up and grow-on space for young companies.
Each of the sheds has been subdivided into smaller units. The larger of the two sheds, the 38,200 sq ft Unit 12, would be broken down into five 7,600 sq ft units. The other shed, the 28,300 sq ft Unit 9 would comprise four 7,100 sq ft units.
Unit 9 would also have 50 parking bays attached to it, include one active electric vehicle charging space and 10 passive ones, alongside four accessible bays.
Unit 12’s car park would have 63 parking bays. Like Unit 9, there would only be one active EV space, but there would be four passive EV bays to accompany it and four accessible bays. There would also be cycle parking shelters.
To meet 10% biodiversity net gain requirements, the project includes a separate, 4.5-acre site as a BNG off-setting area. This will be done by creating an open mosaic habitat after breaking up the existing slab on the site.
Morgan Sindall is lined up to build the sheds if planning approval is gained.
Avison Young is the planner for the project. The team also includes Curtins, Solmek, BGP, Tetra Tech, OFR Consultants, Miller Goodall, and One Environments.
You can learn more about the project by searching 4/25/2411/0F1 on Cumberland Council’s planning portal.
The plans for Carlisle Station’s upgrade car park includes a reduced sandstone wall that will give greater visibility and access at the station’s approach. Credit: planning documents
Carlisle Station car park
Another Cumberland Council application, this scheme is part of the wider £40m Southern Gateway scheme which looks to revision the area around the Carlisle rail station.
The site that this application pertains to used to be the home to the 1970s Pools Building and the old Staples unit, both of which have been demolished. Today, it hosts a car park and the recently closed Matalan retail store.
The site sits south of the grade two star-listed Citadel Station and is bordered by Water Street, James Street, and the Victoria Viaduct.
Outline permission was granted to transform this site into a car park in April 2025. This application is for reserved matters approval.
Those matters call for the demolition of the Matalan Building and the re-engineering of the space to allow for 239 cars to park. The proposed car park would include 10 Blue Badge parking bays and 14 enlarged ones, with one Blue Badge and one enlarged bay boasting EV charging capability. There would also be room for motorcycle sto park and for cycles to be stored.
Accessed from Water Street, the car park would have a dedicated taxi rank and pick up and drop off area.
BDP and Eric Wright Engineering are assisting the council on the application.
You can learn more about the project by searching 25/0701 on Cumberland Council’s planning portal.
Cleator Moor Library
Rounding out the trio of Cumberland Council applications, the revamp of Cleator Moor Library and former council office buildings in the town has also been tipped for approval by planning officers.
The application would see the grade two-listed former office buildings and library be linked together with an 2,550 sq ft extension. This would include a café.
The proposals also would see the transformation of the library into a 10,800 sq ft broader use community hub. Alongside a series of interior changes would be public realm improvements including the restoration of the memorial fountain by the library.
Parking would also be adjusted to accommodate 15 car parking bays, including three disabled spaces. There would also be space for 14 cycles to be stored.
The project team for the project includes Day Cummins and A L Daines & Partners. To review the applications for the scheme, search 4/23/2253/0L1 and 4/23/2275/0F1 on the council’s planning portal.
