Westmorland and Furness Council's Eden local planning committee during a meeting held at Penrith Town Hall on Wednesday, gave a planning application the green light after a 12 month delay in consideration. The proposal, submitted by PFK Plc (Penrith Farmers & Kidds), sought approval for a purpose-built office on a greenfield site. The application included plans for a two-story office building, an ancillary storage building, car parking, and associated infrastructure.
PFK Plc, an established local business with 145 years of history, operating from Penrith has expanded its presence over the years to now include offices in Carlisle, Cockermouth, and Keswick. The existing head office, located at the Auction Mart, was deemed unsuitable to support the company's continued growth prompting PFK to look at a new location, utilising the land they own on Mile Lane.
The site, situated approximately 450 meters from the firms existing head office, was considered an undeveloped greenfield site within the open countryside by council officers. That covers about 2 hectares of agricultural land located to the southwest of Mile Lane.
Concerns were raised during the planning process by Dacre Parish Council, the local parish council for the area the site is located. The council objected to the development, citing concerns about the traffic implications on the substandard access road, Mile Lane. They also said that Mile Lane was already experiencing overuse, leading to signs of wear and damage. Furthermore, they expressed worries about the lack of public transport, cycle routes, and pedestrian access to the site. Additionally, concerns about congestion at the Mile Lane Junction with the A66 were mentioned.
Other objections to the plans were also received by the local planning authority.
During the council's planning meeting debate on the application, some councillors expressed reservations about the numerous planning applications approved on Mile Lane in the absence of a masterplan for the area and the fact that Mile Lane was not designated as a development or employment area in any current local plan.
Despite the concerns and objections, the planning officers recommended approval of the application. Planning officers stated that the proposed development would not adversely affect the visual appearance of the site or the surrounding landscape and would not cause harm to the public highway or residential amenity.
In a unanimous vote, the Westmorland and Furness Council Eden Area Planning committee approved the application, paving the way for the transformation of the greenfield site into an office block with 40 parking spaces in the £2m investment of the new headquarters for the firm.
This decision comes one year after the application was initially submitted to the local planning authority and highlights the delays that have affected numerous applications in the region. PFK Plc is also recently gained planning approval to redevelop its former auction rooms building into an office block on its Auction site for National Highways to use as a part of the A66 upgrade.
The company announced last December the relocation of its land agency operations to EdenHall following its acquisition of Robson and Liddle (Rural) Limited in December 2022.
In November 2022 when the plans were unveiled and submitted to the former Eden District Council for application Andrew Green, PFK’s Managing Director said "We've outgrown our current office accommodation at Skirsgill and by developing land already in the ownership of the Company allows us to continue to expand our Land Agency and Professional Services business into our own bespoke premises on Mile Lane."
“The development of a new Head Office will provide significant improvements to existing working practices of our Head Office, Land Agency, Professional Services and the Administration teams bringing together staff from existing departments who are currently dispersed across smaller offices."
Westmorland and Furness Council approval of the application comes 12 Months after the application was first submitted to the local planning authority and is one of many applications that have seen lengthy delays in determining by the council in the local area.
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