Outline plans for up to 100 new homes in Seaton are set to be decided on next week.

Allerdale's development panel will next Tuesday decide whether to grant outline planning permission for the construction of up to 100 new homes on land to the east of Causeway Road in Seaton.

Being an application for outline permission, submitted by trustees of the Copsey Family Trust, further, more detailed plans would have to be approved before construction could begin.

However, the granting of outline permission would signal approval in principle of the prospect of up to 100 new homes being built on the site.

The site in question, about 3.6 hectares of open agricultural land, lies on the south eastern perimeter of Seaton.

The application is described by planning officers as "in essence" a revised proposal to existing approved outline plans, using additional land to enable access to the "existing highway".

This is instead of creating access via the former Royal British Legion site, which is not part of the new plans.

A number of concerns have been raised in relation to the proposals.

A report prepared for the development panel outlines that Seaton Parish Council expressed concerns over what it described as "unsuitable" access arrangements, and argued that the "currently overused highways" would be "inadequate" to support the likely increase in traffic.

The council also raised concerns over the "potential impact of flooding in the drainage zone for the site".

In addition, the parish council urged consideration of "other properties already coming onto the market in Seaton", and the "cumulative impact of proposed developments" on the area's services and infrastructure.

Following the applicant's agreement to the revocation of the existing outline permission for the area, Cumbria County Council's Highways department withdrew its previously expressed concerns in relation to "cumulative traffic impact".

Allerdale's planning officers recommend that permission is granted, subject to the completion of a section 106 legal agreement, which would secure a number of conditions including the revocation of previously granted outline planning permission for up to 100 homes in the area.

This previously granted outline planning permission, which remains valid until May, partly overlaps the site in question set to be considered next week.

It is also recommended that the legal agreement ensures that 20 per cent of the homes built on the land be affordable, and that "public open space" is provided as part of any development.

This application had previously come before Allerdale's development panel in August last year.

At the meeting, council officers explained that the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick had "notified" Allerdale Borough Council that he wanted the "opportunity to review any council resolution", in order to determine "whether it should be called in for his determination".

A decision on this application was deferred by the panel in August to allow for more evaluation on any flood risk associated with the plans.

Following this August deferral, Allerdale officers have liaised with Seaton community representatives, the applicant and their respective associated drainage consultants, as well as officers from Cumbria County Council, which acts as the Lead Local Flood Authority.

The county council determined that it would commission an independent peer assessment, to evaluate the application's details and address the concerns raised by objectors.

The county council's final response concluded that the details contained in the plans are "acceptable", subject to "specific bespoke drainage conditions".

Workington Flood Action Group however remains concerned about the plans, arguing that they should "not be recommended for approval".

The group is far from alone in raising concerns - in total more than 160 objections have been received in total from third parties.

Objections range from concerns over what is argued to be a flood risk posed by the development to "strains on infrastructure" resulting from the development.

One objection stated that the "village is at saturation point".

However, Allerdale planning officers state that the addition of 100 homes is considered a "valuable contribution" towards delivering the area's housing need.

It is acknowledged that Seaton has been the "subject of significant housing commitments" in recent years.

But this growth, planning officers note, is "not confined to Seaton", and the level of growth is described as being "considered to be commensurate in scale".

"100 dwellings could be supported by the existing infrastructure", planning officers have concluded, in addition to "that which could be secured" by a section 106 legal agreement, an instrument used by local authorities to lock in contributions from developers towards supporting local infrastructure.

As such, the principal of up to 100 dwellings "in this specific locality cannot be reasonably resisted," the report prepared for the panel concludes.