A second entrance onto the A6 is being proposed for the long-delayed Junction 41 Business Park near Penrith, with developers also seeking a reduction in the speed limit outside the site to 40mph.
The proposal has been submitted to Westmorland & Furness Council by Maple Grove Developments as the latest attempt to move forward with the employment development at Bowscar Road, near Stoneybeck.
But despite planning permission for the business park being granted back in 2022, the site is still a long way from becoming the major employment development originally envisaged.
Apart from the access point that has already been created onto the site, no development of the business park has yet got underway.
The scheme has also had multiple owners since the original planning permission was granted, with the latest application now seeking changes to the existing planning conditions to allow the proposed second access.
The original outline permission, reference 22/0989, approved employment development falling within Class E(g), B2 and/or B8, with access. A subsequent application approved in August 2025 formally allowed the development to be phased.
Now the developers want to add a second way into the site directly from the A6.
So how much extra traffic could the new A6 entrance bring?
According to the transport assessment submitted with the application, the completed business park is expected to generate between 100 and 145 two-way vehicle movements during the weekday morning and evening peak hours.
However, the developers estimate that only around 10 to 14 two-way peak-hour movements would use the proposed new A6 entrance.
The proposed junction would include a right-turn arrangement, visibility splays and changes to road markings, alongside the proposed reduction in the A6 speed limit to 40mph.
The plans also include a footpath connection which is intended eventually to link through towards the Waitings site to the south. The developers say discussions have taken place between the two schemes about who would be responsible for different sections of the footpath.
There is, however, no agreed sustainable transport strategy for a footpath on the northern side of the new access at the time the application was submitted.
The application also reveals the cost of the proposed new entrance.
A budget costing prepared in June puts the additional cost of constructing the secondary access at £98,554.98, although that figure excludes what the developers describe as significant traffic-management costs.
The developers argue that the new entrance would improve access to the northern part of the business park and reduce traffic using the existing primary entrance, which they say would provide a net highway safety benefit.
The plans show how the site could eventually be developed, with six industrial units ranging from around 300 square metres to almost 9,900 square metres, giving a total illustrated floorspace of about 20,868 square metres.
That layout is described as a feasibility plan rather than the final development, with the application stressing that it is provided for information rather than as a plan to be formally conditioned.
The wider outline permission allows a maximum building zone of around 23,000 square metres, split between two development zones. The plans also retain an area around the existing culvert for surface-water management, with the potential for pedestrian and vehicle connections between the two areas of the site.
The application is not asking the council to change the existing £50,000 sustainable transport contribution attached to the original permission.
Under the existing agreement, £30,000 is payable when development starts, with the remaining £20,000 due on or before construction of the first 41,000 square feet of development.
The application is seeking to change conditions attached to the existing permission rather than applying for the business park from scratch.
One of the conditions currently prevents vehicles entering or leaving the site other than through the approved access.
If the new A6 entrance is approved, the developers are asking for that condition to be removed because it would no longer reflect the access arrangements for the site.
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