Allies and Morrison Urban Practitioners was appointed by Lower Allithwaite Parish Council to prepare a strategy for the village of Cartmel called the Cartmel Township Initiative. The strategy has been prepared under the guidance of a working group comprising key members of the Parish Council together with representatives from Cumbria County Council, South Lakeland District Council and the local business community.
Cartmel is a very attractive village in a beautiful valley setting bounded by the ridges of Hampsfell to the east and Howbarrow to the west. Within the conservation area are many fine listed buildings clustered around the Grade 1 Priory Church of St Mary and St Michael. The river and water meadows running through the heart of the village soften the hard edges of the built environment and are key features which must be protected.
The balance between the built environment and the natural setting was analysed and understood in the 1993 Cartmel Village Design Statement, which remains an authoritative record of the Cartmel’s unique village environment.
There is concern that the pressures of the twenty first century are slowly eroding the village heritage and the Cartmel Townscape Initiative seeks to address the relevant issues including highway and traffic matters but also the broader picture of village environment and conservation which should be preserved and enhanced by high quality design and implementation