Public hearing for care home site housing appeal

The site of a former Combe House has been blighted by anti-social behaviour

A public hearing will take place after developers appealed against a decision to refuse plans for new homes on the site of a former care home.

The Barrow-in-Furness local area planning committee refused proposals by Mulberry Homes to build 17 new homes on the site of Combe House in Walney, Cumbria.

The company said Combe House had been vacant for some time and was "increasingly falling into a poor state of repair".

A government inspector will hold a public hearing on 14 August at Barrow Town Hall.

In an appeal statement, the developer said: "The redevelopment of the site and delivery of housing would bring positive benefits and lead to an enhancement of the area."

However, the Westmorland and Furness Council committee said it does not consider the proposal to be "high quality, sustainable or appropriate".

The response adds: "Whilst the redevelopment of the site for residential purposes is acceptable in principle and welcomed, the manner in which the appeal proposal has been designed and laid out is not."

The local authority's planning committee said the site is capable of being redeveloped in a "much more attractive and sustainable way".

At a planning meeting last October, a member of staff at nearby Walney Central Nursery spoke about anti-social behaviour and regular fires on the site.

She said staff had called the police on "numerous occasions."