ANY public consultation over the controversial Penrith masterplan will not take place until after local government elections in May.

Last year, Eden Council held an eight-week public engagement over the masterplan, which contains proposals to build three new villages to the north of the town’s Beacon and create 73 hectares of employment land by 2050.

Following a full council vote that it should be subjected to further scrutiny by residents, it was recommended by council officers that members of the authority’s ruling executive postpone any such action, apart from ongoing analysis of the public engagement responses.

At a meeting on Tuesday, senior councillors formally approved the officer recommendations.

At a meeting of the full council last month, Michael Eyles (Lib Dem, Penrith East) successfully proposed a motion highlighting widespread criticism of the masterplan and linked engagement exercise, and recommending that the document be subject to an official public consultation with the option to reject it.

At Tuesday’s meeting of the executive, Mr Eyles asked council leader Kevin Beaty (Con, Skelton) when the results of the ongoing analysis, which is being carried out by the universities of Lancaster and Cumbria, would be available.

Mr Beaty said: “Officers have been working with the universities by inputting data from the engagement into the analysis software. Further work is still required to complete this data analysis.

“It is envisaged that the results of the analysis will be available at the end of February or beginning of March.”

Mr Eyles asked whether the results would go to the executive or be presented to the full council for debate and consideration and was told he would receive a written response.

Presenting the officer report, development portfolio holder John Owen (Con, Shap), confirmed the analysis was expected to take a number of weeks and every response would be included. However, hand-written responses needed to be input into the system.

According to the report, moving towards a formal consultation period before the work is complete would be “premature” and from March 20 a period known as purdah — where no potential controversial decisions can be taken — will last until the results of the elections were announced.

Mr Owen said any public consultation period would last for around six weeks and if the matter was deferred until the purdah period had ended, key findings could then be thoroughly considered.

County councillor Neil Hughes (Lib Dem, Eden Lakes) suggested the executive had been overruled by the full council but Mr Beaty said this was not the case because it was an amendment to an original recommendation.

He said he had always made it clear that if the people of Penrith did not want a plan of that “scale and ambition” it would not happen.

He added: “We are having a conversation with the people of Eden about what they want for the future.”

Tatiana Harrison, from the campaign group Keep Penrith Special, said the group was not opposed to development and progress.

Mr Beaty said the council was not shelving the masterplan but asking the people of the district whether “they want something exciting for Eden or something less exciting”.

As well as deferring any action on the masterplan, the report recommended the new administration should consider the outcomes from the analysis work, to determine the most appropriate course of action.

It was also recommended that the executive should consider the matter of public consultation after the elections.

The executive agreed with the recommendations and the matter was deferred.

From the Cumberland & Westmorland Herald on Saturday, February 9, 2019.