Plans for a development of houses at Coniston Cold have been lodged for a second time.

Hotelier and landowner Michael Bannister, of the Coniston Hall Estate, is applying to Craven District Council to build 14 homes on land next to Church Close Farm.

The plans include 11 houses and a barn conversion to create three further homes, with a total of 32 parking spaces.

Approval is also being sought for the change of use of land to create a children’s play area and a footpath link.

There is a separate application for a development of kennels to relocate hounds from the Pendle Forest and Craven Hunt, which currently are kept near Gisburn.

At the time of the last submission for the housing development, Mr Bannister said the scheme was to provide homes to help the village prosper and provide accommodation for his estate’s growing workforce.

He believed the development would enhance the village and provide much-needed homes for people who wanted to work in the area where they lived.

The plans were withdrawn following a recommendation to reduce the density of the 0.46 hectare site from 37 houses to 30 per hectare and amid concerns relating to highways and drainage matters.

After a request from the district and parish councils to reduce the density of the scheme, the resubmitted application now falls below the threshold at which provision of affordable houses is required.

Mr Bannister said: “With this new application we feel we have answered the concerns quite rightly put forward by various people.

“We have redesigned the layout and think it does look more attractive and in keeping with the village. The homes will be built from local stone and we feel we have addressed the highway and drainage issues.”

However, there is still opposition to the proposal.

Peter Andrews, who lives at the Old Schoolhouse, said there were still issues with the size of the development, the effect on the highway and the fact that the character and amenity of the village would be harmed.

“This development is half the size of the village. There are major concerns with sewage and also a real problem with flooding from surface water which would get a lot worse,” he said.

“The land they propose to build on is a lot higher so they (the houses) will be visible. A lot of people are up in arms about the scheme.”

The application for the kennels relates to the conversion of redundant stables to form huntsman accommodation and the change of use of an agricultural building to create accommodation for 60 harrier hounds.

The application site is at Wheelwright Farm, to the north of Coniston Hotel.

“This is very exciting in that the hounds will be coming back to the Craven area, having once been housed at Gargrave,” said Mr Bannister. “The kennels will be situated along the road to the shooting lodge and around a mile- and-a-half away from Bell Busk. I really don’t think there will be a problem with noise at all.”