Story Homes wants 491 houses off Burton Road, and the council must find room for 26,000 by 2045. Where both stand on the register, and who decides what here.

Two things are happening in Kendal planning at once. A single application would add 491 homes on the southern edge of the town, and the council that would decide it has just started writing a Local Plan that must find room for roughly 26,000 homes across Westmorland and Furness by 2045. This page sets out where each stands, from the council’s own register and documents.

Who actually decides planning here

Kendal sits outside the Lake District National Park, so applications in the town are decided by Westmorland and Furness Council. Cross the park boundary and the planning authority changes: Windermere, Bowness, Ambleside, Grasmere, Coniston and Hawkshead applications go to the Lake District National Park Authority instead. Two different authorities, two different sets of policy, and a common source of confusion when neighbours compare notes.

Westmorland and Furness is also not on the Idox platform that most councils use. Its register is a bespoke system at planningregister.westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk, which is where every reference on this page can be looked up.

491 homes between Burton Road and Natland Road

Reference 2026/1037/FPA. Status: officer consideration, decision pending.

Story Homes has a full application in for the demolition of agricultural buildings and the erection of 491 dwellings, with roads, footpaths, car parking and landscaping, taking vehicle access from both Burton Road and Natland Road. Of those, 172 are affordable, which is 35%.

The site straddles a parish boundary, so the register lists it under both Natland and Kendal parishes, in the Kendal South ward. The applicant is Adam McNally of Story Homes Ltd, the agent is Pinnacle Planning, and the case officer is Liz Arnold.

Story Homes says the homes would range from one to six bedrooms, and that the scheme would provide around £4 million through a Section 106 agreement and the Community Infrastructure Levy, funding new pedestrian connectivity to Natland village along with education, healthcare, transport and community facilities. The layout includes sustainable drainage and new tree and shrub planting.

The application did not appear from nowhere. In July 2025 the same developer sought a scoping opinion for a housing development of 450 units on land west of Burton Road, reference 2025/1436/SCOPE. The council determined on 21 November 2025 that an Environmental Impact Assessment was required. The scheme that came back six months later was for 41 more homes.

One detail worth noting from the register: the decision level is recorded as delegated, and no committee date is listed. The statutory expiry date is 8 September 2026.

Timeline of the 491-home application and the new Local Plan consultation Two timelines from May to September 2026. The Story Homes application 2026/1037/FPA was received on 19 May, validated on 9 June, opened for consultation on 19 June, had its site notice on 26 June, closed to comments on 17 July and has a statutory expiry date of 8 September. Separately, the council gave notice of intention to start plan-making on 30 June, opened its Local Plan scoping consultation on 1 July and closes it on 11 August. Comments have closed on the 491 homes. The Local Plan closes on 11 August. Dates as recorded on the Westmorland and Furness planning register and the council's Local Plan pages. 2026/1037/FPA 491 homes 19 May received 9 Jun valid 19 Jun 17 Jul consultation open 8 Sep expiry Local Plan scoping stage 30 Jun notice 11 Aug closes six-week consultation The consultation window on the 491 homes ran for four weeks and has passed. Late comments may not be considered, which the register says on the application page itself.
Both clocks are running. The application's comment period closed on 17 July; the Local Plan's closes on 11 August 2026.

The Local Plan: 26,000 homes, and six weeks to speak

Westmorland and Furness gave notice of its intention to start plan-making on 30 June 2026 and opened a scoping consultation on 1 July, running six weeks to 11 August 2026.

The number that matters is this: the plan will need to identify sites and locations for approximately 26,000 new homes by 2045, which the council says is an increase of more than 75% on the previous combined housebuilding targets of the three former districts. Where those homes go is exactly what the plan decides, and the scoping stage is the first point at which anyone can say anything about it.

Councillor Vicky Hughes, the cabinet member for planning and active wellbeing, put it as plainly as a council press release allows: “Making a Local Plan is one of the most important things the council does. It sets out the future we want for ourselves and for future generations.”

You can respond through the council’s Local Plan pages. Paper copies are at Kendal Town Hall, Barrow Town Hall, Voreda House in Penrith and libraries across the planning authority area.

Until the new plan is adopted, applications here are still decided against the legacy plans of the former authorities, which for Kendal means the South Lakeland documents. Those stay in force, applying to the areas they covered before reorganisation, until the new plan replaces them.

Also in front of the council: the leisure centre

Reference 2026/1181/FPA. Consultation open until 25 August 2026.

The council has applied to itself for consent to install six air-source heat pumps at Kendal Leisure Centre on Burton Road, together with a building to house the associated plant, a new electricity sub-station and a new air-handling unit on the main roof. The ward is Kendal Highgate and the case officer is Emily Sharp. The statutory expiry date is 18 September 2026. This one is still open for comment.

It follows a separate prior notification, 2026/1183/PASOLAR, which has been determined and covers 431 solar panels on the leisure centre roofs: 196 on the north side of the main roof, 215 on the south side and 20 on the lower plant room roof.

Taken together the two applications describe a full decarbonisation of the building, which is one of the larger energy users the council runs.

How to track an application yourself

  • Search by address or reference on the planning register. The quick search takes part of an address, such as “Burton Road”, and the advanced search takes an applicant’s name.
  • Each application page has a Track This Application option that emails you when the status changes.
  • If your address is inside the national park, use the Lake District National Park Authority register instead.
  • Statutory notices, including temporary road closures tied to construction, are advertised in the Westmorland Gazette and carried on the Public Notice Portal.

More Kendal local information: house prices, trains to London, roadworks and travel and things to do in Kendal.