The Green Party candidate has said he is ‘concerned’ about the ‘escalating impact of relentless house building programs’ on existing services and infrastructure in Carlisle.

Responding to the news that 171 new homes could be built on agricultural land on Carleton Road, Carlisle, Green Party parliamentary candidate for Carlisle, Gavin Hawkton said that residents have ‘concerns’ over housebuilding in the city.

Access to the site will likely be taken from Cumwhinton Road, as detailed on the indicative layout, which connects to Cumwhinton to the east and Carlisle city centre to the west.

“This is an all-too familiar story for Carlisle,” said Gavin.

“Our already strained infrastructure is facing more pressures due to the surge in housing developments.

“Speaking to residents there is feeling that their concerns about the scale and speed of developments across our city is going ignored”.

“Access to the site will come from Cumwhinton Road, a road that is significantly busier following housing developments in the Garlands area. More cars and more traffic are going to exacerbate the problem.”

Gavin has also raised concerns about the environmental effects of more large scale housing developments on greenfield sites.

“There is an environmental impact here as well, with the slow disappearance of our surrounding green spaces and related impacts on biodiversity,” said Gavin

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“Building on green spaces may be cheaper but we need to do much more to incentivise the renovation of empty properties and brownfield sites. Parts of our inner-city look are going ignored while the city expands forever outwards.”

Carlisle, and the rest of Cumbria, is in the midst of a housing boom with several large-scale projects either under construction or being planned.

The most significant housing project is St Cuthbert’s Garden Village which is set to bring a 'new, sustainable community' south of Carlisle with 10,325 new homes built over the next 30 years.