Housing and regeneration demand leads to expansion at planning team
A northern council is gearing up for a growth in housing and regeneration projects by expanding its planning team.
Allerdale Borough Council has recruited Francesca McEnaney from Cumbria County Council to the new post of planning officer.
Principal planning officer Julie Ward told Planning: “Following the successful adoption of the core strategy the focus of the team is the preparation of site allocations.
“There are conflicting pressures: we have a lot of applications for housing and we need to regenerate industrial towns such as Workington and Maryport.
“Meanwhile, Cockermouth market town sits on the edge of the Lake District National Park and there are big affordable housing issues.
“So we have to get the balance right and try to avoid going to the obvious hotspots for housing but rebalance the agenda so the likes of Workington and Maryport get their share of the growth sites.
“Another issue we have to get right is dealing with the northern areas of the district, which are sparse and rural and have problems with access to services and more affordability of housing.”
McEnaney will draft supplementary planning documents and development briefs, deal with the council's community infrastructure levy development tariff and support neighbourhood planning projects.
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