UU withdraws application

Fell ponies consider the news

Discussions with the Lake District National Park planning department has resulted in United Utilities withdrawing their application for weir removal at Crummock. This follows our request to planning officer Phil Nichols to consider the amount of time taken. The application was submitted in March 2025 and paused months later by applicant Matt Buckley to respond to public concerns over proposals to drain the lake by 5ft. 300 letters of objection were received and a petition 11000 signatures .

Key highlights of our campaign were a misunderstanding of the historic lake levels, inaccurate visulisations and concern over a devastating loss of habitat for protected species such as otters and arctic charr.

Friends of Crummock have called for better engagement with the community prior to any new application being submitted. Many of the concerns highlighted during the recent planning had been flagged up during public consultation in 2023.

The email from UU Corporate Affairs Lead Kate Stark reads as follows:

Just a short email to provide a brief update in terms of the planning application. 

As communicated to you previously, work on the project continues, with the team continuing to review all feedback received and assessing the full range of options available. Based on current forecasts, the earliest likely timeframe for holding further community engagement sessions is now looking like the autumn. This is dependent on the completion of the Environment Agency’s flood model review, alongside several other critical activities, and the timing may therefore be subject to change. I will of course keep you posted. 

Following recent discussions with the Lake District National Park Authority, and at their request, we have withdrawn the current planning application (however it may take a couple of days for the LDNPA website to be updated to reflect this). This reflects the length of time that has passed since the original submission. A revised application will be submitted following the community engagement sessions.