Plans for the space in Ambleside can now go ahead after planners approved its change of use with tight controls to protect the conservation area. Dr David Unwin has secured permission from the Lake District National Park Authority to turn The Old Butcher’s Shop on North Road into ground-floor residential rooms linked to the flat above, creating a single two-storey dwelling. The building housed Garside Butchers, which has been a fixture of the Lake District since 1984 when it was founded by the current owner’s father Fred Garside. Officers said the Old Butcher’s Shop makes a positive contribution to the area’s historic streetscape through its age, design and traditional Lakeland stone construction. Given the building’s conservation importance, however, the authority has removed all permitted development rights from the new dwelling.