A CONTROVERSIAL application for the building of more than 150 homes on the outskirts of Carlisle has been approved by Carlisle City Council.

Work to construct 157 homes on the outskirts of Carlisle will soon get under way after planning permission was granted on Friday.

Carlisle City Council’s development control committee unanimously approved a reserved matters planning application from Penrith-based Genesis Homes for 157 'high-specification' homes to be built on land near Cumberland House Clinic, west of Cumwhinton Drive.

Outline planning permission for the construction of up to 160 homes on the site was granted in 2020 on behalf of government agency Homes England, which acquired the site to promote its use for housing.

The application by Genesis faced opposition from some neighbours to the site, as well as Cumbria County Councillor Deborah Earle.

In an objection when the application was submitted, she said: "There are way too many planning applications being granted on this estate, the roads can't take the heavy plant machinery and it causes misery for the existing residents."

The Woodlands development from Genesis Homes, which will comprise a range of one to five bedroom houses, flats and bungalows - including the conversion of Victorian building Cumberland House into six apartments - will preserve surrounding woodlands to 'encourage biodiversity'.

Though Cumberland House will be converted, another Victorian building on the site, Westmorland House, was not so lucky, and controversially will be demolished.

John Blue, the company’s land director, said: “Genesis Homes is committed to making all our developments as environmentally friendly as possible, and a main aim of ours is to enhance the biodiversity and ecology of the local area.

“We are delighted to be able to create a distinctive, characterful housing development which is sensitively embedded within the existing landscape, and preserve the beautiful surrounding wooded areas.”

READ MORE: Officers recommend permission for 159-home development in Carlisle

The development will be located close to the proposed St Cuthbert’s Garden Village, an ambitious housing and economic development scheme planned to regenerate the local area.

John said: “There is a strong vision for regeneration in the area and plans to create a new market area locally, and we are excited to form a positive relationship with the nearby development to boost the community even further.”

Thirty of the homes on the Woodlands development have been designated 'affordable housing'.

READ MORE: Plans for homes at Carleton Clinic in Carlisle under fire