A South Lakeland catering equipment firm wants to build a facility to allow for the production of equipment currently made in the Far East.
The new building at the Lakeland Catering Centre at Newland, near Ulverston, would also feature a training room, warehouse space and toilets.
The site is the headquarters of Cater-Kwik, and a design and access statement submitted as part of the application says the proposal would ‘enable the company to continue to expand, allowing them to take on more staff, providing jobs to the local community’.
A recycling shed is to be constructed within the rear yard of the new building.
The changes would see internal floorspace at the site increased to 929sq m, up from 497sq m.
The company’s submission to South Lakeland District Council lists a host of other proposed changes, including the creation of a new loading bay area along the western elevation of the existing Cater-Kwik building, with the current bay ‘no longer fit for purpose’ owing to the business’s expansion since the existing bay area’s installation.
A newly widened entrance would allow trucks and vans to safely arrive and leave the site.
The design and access statement says a new staff and visitor parking area would be created to the east of the site by removing containers from the container storage area.
The statement says: “This means that there will now be clear separation between the large delivery vehicles and staff and visitors arriving at the site, which will vastly improve the safety of all those working and visiting the site.”
A wildlife pond – approval for which was granted in 2006 – to the south end of the site is to be dug out and filled with water.
The application describes the planned erection of two horse paddocks, as well as a horse shelter to serve these paddocks. Approval for the construction of a stable block and equine exercise area was granted in 2006.
The design and access statement says the wildlife pond would feature ‘new planting around the edges and within the pond to encourage wildlife and to maintain the quality of the water’.
