The green light is set to be given today to a major road project that, if put in place, will bring significant change to Carlisle.

Cumbria County Council’s development control and regulation committee will decide this morning whether or not to grant planning permission for the creation of the Carlisle Southern Link Road – a brand new five-mile bypass which would connect the M6 to the A595.

The creation of the southern bypass – set to cost a total of £144m – has been described by Carlisle MP John Stevenson as “hugely significant for the city”.

He has held a number of discussions with Government ministers over the past several years to impress on them what he has argued is a vital need for the city to see the road put in place – and in order to secure the funding from the Government necessary for the project to go ahead.

Mr Stevenson has previously described the securing of Government funding for the bypass as “tremendous news” for Carlisle and the surrounding area.

Should Carlisle’s southern bypass be constructed, this would increase the viability of the ambitious St Cuthbert’s garden village plans, which would see the construction of up to 10,000 new homes to the south of Carlisle.

Mr Stevenson explained that the “southern ring road will open up the garden village and will help business investment and local connectivity”, and has long argued for the importance of both projects for the long term economic growth of the city.

It has been recommended to the county council committee that the plans be approved.

The recommendation for approval of the project from the county council’s planning department comes in spite of a number of objections raised by residents.

The report submitted for consideration at today’s meeting notes that “a small number of those objecting to this planning application object to the principle of the creation of the proposed link road”.

Other objections have been raised by residents on the grounds that the project will be destructive to local wildlife habitats, and that the creation of the bypass would result in an “erosion of the rural feel and tranquility of the wider Cummersdale area”.

The bulk of the funding for the project would be coming from the Government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund, designated for the delivery of transport infrastructure.

Additional funding would be provided both by Carlisle City Council and Cumbria County Council.