Plans have been submitted to Westmorland and Furness Council for the construction of an extension at the ForFarmers animal feed business on Haweswater Road, Penrith.
The proposal seeks permission for a single-storey extension to provide additional animal feed storage. The new building would be located to the rear (south-west) of the existing factory, on land currently used as an overspill car parking area between the site and the M6 motorway.
If approved, the extension would measure 14 metres in width and 38 metres in length. It would stand 6 metres high to the eaves and 7.5 metres to the ridge, and would be clad in metal sheeting to both the walls and roof, designed to match the appearance of the existing building. The space would be used solely for storage in association with the wider operation of the site.
ForFarmers has operated successfully from the Haweswater Road site for a number of years. According to the application, the additional storage would help free up floor space within the current building, allowing the business to operate more efficiently. The company says this would increase its capacity to store products and bring benefits in terms of productivity, as well as supporting job security and potential job creation.
The main change resulting from the development would be visual, with the extension added to the existing building. However, the site is already an established commercial operation with a large-scale industrial building, located within Penrith’s commercial area and backing onto the M6 along its south-western boundary.
The applicant states that the extension would be relatively modest in scale and would be well contained by rising land to the south-west and the existing building to the north-east. They argue that it would be largely unnoticeable from public viewpoints and, where visible, would appear as an in-keeping addition due to its size, scale and matching materials.
A Flood Risk Assessment submitted as part of the application identifies the site as lying within flood zones 2 and 3, meaning it is at risk of fluvial flooding. However, the agent for the application explained that, for operational reasons, the extension cannot be built elsewhere on the site.
To address flood risk, the assessment includes a range of mitigation measures. These include a specific drainage design, interception and redirection of flood flows, raised floor levels within the extension, and the use of flood warning alerts alongside a flood evacuation plan.
The application will now be considered by Westmorland and Furness Council following the consultation period, full details of the plans can be found via: https://planningregister.westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk/Planning/Display/2025/2346/FPA
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