Expert duo mark more than 100 years shaping development in our towns, villages and landscape

Two men who have played a major role in helping to shape development in the Lake District’s towns and villages are marking more than 100 years in town planning.

Peter Winter worked for 19 years for the Lake District National Park Authority and now runs his own town planning consultancy firm, while historic building specialist Andy Lowe is the former building conservation officer for the LDNPA.

The duo have been friends for many years and still work together on specific town planning projects.

“We have worked in parallel during much of our careers and I can still go to Andy when I need some specialist advice on a planning project. His ability to quickly ‘read’ and interpret the history of a building is hugely beneficial when preparing schemes,” said Peter, 72, who lives in the Crooklands area.

“You would be hard pressed to find people with more experience in planning who are still working together,” added Andy, 77, who lives at Kendal.

Peter grew up in Bristol and studied town planning at its polytechnic before gaining his Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) qualifications. His first role was in planning policy at Lincolnshire County Council, where he concentrated on the re-use of former World War Two airfields.

He then spent nine years at Wyre Forest District Council in Worcestershire as a development control planning officer before moving to Cornwall as an Area Planning Officer. “I know every building on the opening credits of the TV show Beyond to Paradise, which is set in Looe. I was the planning officer approving schemes at several of the buildings,” he said.

He joined what was then called the Lake District Special Planning Board in 1988 as a Senior Planning Officer. “I had covered national parks as part of my thesis and had always had an interest in countryside matters so this was an opportunity to put my knowledge into practice,” said Peter.

Notable schemes he was involved with included the replacement of the former Blue Box theatre at Keswick; a housing scheme in Rosthwaite which won a national Civic Trust award; and successfully opposing plans for 18 huge turbines on the skyline at Whinash, overlooking Tebay.

In 2007 he started work for PFK as its Head of Planning and Development Services and then set up his own company in 2017 at the age of 65. His services include help with new planning applications, lawful development certificates and planning and enforcement appeals. Current work includes co-ordinating the development of a much-needed affordable housing scheme with two housing associations and a local landowner in a Lakeland valley, and the restoration and conversion of a large and imposing Grade II listed building near Windermere.

“My strengths are my experience, my knowledge of the systems and planning policies, and knowing who to speak to and when,” said Peter.

“I thoroughly enjoy the work. It is all about trying to match people’s expectations for their proposals with local authority planning policies. I work as a bridge between applicants and planning officers to find acceptable solutions wherever possible, whether it be for a new house, factory, barn conversion or renewable energy scheme.

“Some people can be frustrated by the time it takes for planning applications to be decided – it goes back to the financial crisis of 2007/8, which led to a significant reduction in local authority resources.”

Peter, whose wife Lesley is a co-director of the firm, is a member and former president of business networking group Kendal BNI. He is a huge fan of Bristol Rovers, is the current Chair of Preston Patrick Parish Council and enjoys fellwalking and gardening.

A love of geography and a father who was a planning officer led Andy Lowe into his 56-year-long career. He grew up in Slyne-with-Hest, attended Lancaster Grammar School and studied geography at Liverpool University.

“My tutor Bill Rollinson was an expert in historical geography and under his guidance I did my dissertation on the industrial archaeology of the southern Lake District,” said Andy.

He started work in 1968 as a planning assistant for Cheshire County Council and quickly specialised in conservation. “I designated the whole Styal area as a conservation area because it is one of the best examples in Britain of a cotton mill community,” said Andy.

He spent three nights a week travelling from Hazel Grove, near Stockport, to Leeds Polytechnic to take a diploma in town planning and became a member of the RTPI. In 1975 he joined the LDSPB as a senior planning conservation officer and drew up policies for archaeology and building conservation throughout the national park.

“Conservation areas recognise the collective group value of buildings, their setting and the landscape and it was my job to identify those areas that have a special unique character that needs to be designated, protected and improved,” said Andy.

“I held public consultations and exhibitions and designated 21 towns and villages in the Lake District. Enhancing such areas might involve tree planting, removing overhead wires, tidying up areas or simply providing a seat on the village green – all things that would benefit local people.”

Notable projects included working with Norweb to take overhead wires at Staveley underground in 1985 and the pedestrianisation and paving of Ash Street in Bowness in 1993.

“I designated Keswick as a conservation area in 1981 and set the target of pedestrianising the town centre. It took me 25 years with county council help and European money and it was a major enhancement for the town,” said Andy.

Other notable projects included negotiating for the Lake District National Park Authority to take a 50-year lease on the site of Duddon Iron Furnace to carry out archaeological and restoration work, which he then supervised, and being the lead officer dealing with a series of listed building applications while Belle Isle on Windermere was carefully restored following a fire in 1994.

Andy has given talks and lectures on Lake District industrial buildings and heritage for more than 40 years to organisations such as the Women’s Institute and university groups.

He retired in 2006 after nearly 32 years with the LDNPA, did some consultancy work and now occasionally advises Peter on schemes.

He was an amateur racing cyclist for more than 30 years with Kent Valley Road Club and is a keen photographer and guitar player. “These things and historic buildings are my passions. I have never been bored in my life. I am too busy to grow old!” he said.

Married with two children, Andy is a fan of Blackburn Rovers and a former chair of governors at Heron Hill Primary School at Kendal.