Plans to knock down 25 garages in the centre of St Bees and build four new homes on the land have been given the go-ahead.

Green Swallow North Limited applied to Copeland Council for permission to demolish the garages and a workshop at Outrigg Yard for a housing development.

At a virtual meeting of the council’s planning panel, members voted unanimously in favour of the planning officer’s recommendation to approve the outline planning application.

The meeting had heard from Morag Atkinson, who lives in Main Street and rents one of the garages, about concerns that people would be left with nowhere to park their cars.

She said: “Where do you propose we actually park, will this be addressed and will there be a solution found to that?

“My other one is if you’re going to build more houses here in the older part of the village, can you assure us that the utilities that are supplied, particularly water, will not affect us who sit lower?”

St Bees parish councillor Pam Argyle, another Main Street resident who is one of the garage tenants, said the council shared the concerns that another 17 to 20 cars could start parking on Main Street.

However, she said the council did support the suggested creation of a footpath linking the Fairladies estate with St Bees Village Primary School.

“This will be a big improvement as the corner of Outrigg onto Main Street is an extremely dangerous corner,” she said.

“Very often because of parked cars you get large vehicles actually mounting the pavement on the corner trying to turn.

“Obviously with children coming to and from school that’s not an ideal situation so if we can get children coming through this site to the school that will be an improvement.”

She said residents of bungalows above the site were concerned about possible narrowing of the access and warned that could lead to ambulances having to reverse back out into the main road.

The applicant’s agent, Stuart Woodall, said: “The garages are old, requiring investment, and small in size, having been built for significantly smaller motor vehicles.

“In the future, with a reduction in diesel and petrol cars and without onsite electricity, use for storage and charging of electric cars will not be possible and the use for car parking will become redundant over time.”

Mr Woodall acknowledged that on-street parking could become an issue but pointed out that the use of the garages could already be stopped at any time even if the development did not happen.

He said the footpath should reduce traffic and would be “the most significant benefit” of the plans but also argued that the removal of “old and untidy” buildings and the reduction of a hardstanding area would be good for neighbours.

It was also confirmed that the road into and through the site would be built to an adoptable standard.

Mr Woodall added: “With housing comes people and with people comes support to schools, shops and public houses.”