COUNCILLORS have objected to street names put forward for a new housing development in Whitehaven – branding them ‘absurd’.

Works on a 23-home estate off Harras Road have now started after plans by John Swift Homes Ltd were given the green light last year.

The proposed street names for the estate were put before Whitehaven Town Council, who have repeatedly objected to house-building at Harras Moor due to road safety fears.  

The street names proposed by John Swift Homes are: Cantle Grove, Lariat Place and Whippletree Way.

The name ‘Harras’ is a name given to a 'herd of stud horses' and historically, it appears that the name Harras Road derived from the wild horses on the meadows that were once there.

The developer suggested Cantle Grove as this is the name for the main part of a horse’s saddle, Lariat Place is the rope used to catch wild horses and Whippletree Way as this is the linkage for horses reins.

At the latest Whitehaven Town Council meeting, members voted to object to the street names.

Speaking to The Whitehaven News, Graham Roberts, who represents the Harras ward, said: “We all agreed that they are no relevance to the town at all. They are just absurd names.

“How many people in the town would know about the horses? I didn’t even know it. You have got to have names that are relevant to the town.

“A few horses grazing in the field – very nice, very picturesque – but it’s not on the same scale as say, Harbour Way or Washington Lane.

“It’s not well-known. It seems obscure to us. Members felt they didn’t correspond with anything in the town.”

A resubmitted application by John Swift Homes Ltd was given the go-ahead by Cumberland Council last year.

The scheme had previously been refused by members of Copeland Council’s planning panel, who cited increased traffic and highways safety as reasons for their decision.