A government plan to allow residents in the Lake District to express their views on new developments has become a platform for locals to vent.
The Lake District National Park Authority is the first to ask those who live and work in the area to offer their views on the design of new homes, shops, workplaces and public spaces, as a pilot in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ “design code” programme.
As part of the consultation, which was launched this week and will run until May 15, an interactive map has been created in which people can tag and comment on buildings that they find attractive — as well as those that they don’t.
A Premier Inn in Keswick was described as “dreadful”. “What on earth were the Lake District planners thinking?” a commenter wrote. “They should hang their heads in shame!”
Many individuals homes were also subjected to criticism. “It looks more like an office block and [is] completely out of character,” complained one comment, while another complained of “ghastly pastiche”.
