Plans for Barrow’s 650-home Marina Village have been given a £1.5 million boost by the Government.
Marina Village has the potential to provide land for 650 new homes on a 23 hectare site between Salthouse Road and the waterfront in the centre of the town.
The award – from the Brownfield Land Release Fund – will be used to create enabling work for highways, access and utilities towards the southern phases to prepare it for development by the private sector.
The work could release land for the first 315 properties to be brought forward, including affordable homes.
Councillor Lee Roberts, deputy leader of Barrow Borough Council and lead member for housing strategy, said: “This award will provide a very welcome boost to the Marina Village project as the council continues to work towards full remediation of the site.
“The funding will allow a series of enabling work to go ahead that will help pave the way for the private sector to develop the southern phases of the site so that it can bring people and families back into the heart of the community.”
The Brownfield Land Release Fund is delivered by the One Public Estate programme which is a collaboration between the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, the Local Government Association and the Cabinet office.
It aims to allow thousands of new homes to be built on underused and derelict land nationwide to regenerate local areas and help people onto the property ladder.
The Marina Village site forms part of Barrow’s Local Plan, adopted in June 2019 where it is allocated for residential development. A series of detailed consultations were carried out involving Key stakeholders and members of the public.
Remediation and demolition works across the Marina Village site will be undertaken in phases, subject to the relevant planning consents.
As each phase is completed, they will be marketed to developers who will be able to bring forward proposals for homes to sit alongside nature conservation areas.
Cllr Roberts added: “Marina Village has huge potential but is challenging in many ways in terms of preparing it properly so it is attractive to developers.
“This funding will help to address a number of those challenges, taking us a step closer to our long term goal of seeing this part of our borough re-established as a thriving residential area sitting side by side with areas designed to protect and encourage important wildlife.”
Simon Fell, MP for Barrow and Furness, said: “This development is essential to Barrow’s future. I have worked closely with the officers at Barrow Council to make the case to Government for this essential development, and I am glad that with this funding package it is clear that they have listened.
“This is a great step forward for this exciting project, and comes on top of the £41 million that we’ve already been awarded from the Towns Fund, and the Levelling Up Fund. This is how we build back better in Barrow.”
