Plans for houses at a former fire station will go back before councillors after an independent report found evidence of red squirrels there.
The development, at the site on Station Road in Cockermouth, was approved in 2023 but was deferred by Cumberland Council after it was discovered the application was submitted with old ecological reports.
The council’s planning committee has now voted to accept findings of an updated red squirrel survey, which found two nests nearby and recommended keeping trees there.
Wildlife campaigner Gabrielle Sanders said she hoped the council would now consider the development’s “impact on the protected and endangered red squirrels”.