Ambitious plans to build a museum on the former Royal Navy Armaments Depot at Broughton Moor are set to be discussed next week.
Allerdale council’s development panel will meet on Tuesday at 10am to give a decision on a number of planning applications, among them the bid by Derwent Forest Development Consortium to build a museum/visitors centre with a gatehouse, parking and infrastructure.
The museum, if approved, would educate the public on the location’s former life as an arms depot.
The two-storey centre, which would employ up to 10 people, would include a reception, shop, café bar and learning area. The building would be finished in timber cladding with recessed areas in zinc cladding.
Plans for a 14 metre observation tower with a viewing platform has been withdrawn from the scheme.
It has been recommended for approval. However, Broughton Parish Council has objected on strong grounds due to the potential highways impacts through the village and said access via Seaton was unrealistic.
A report to councillors points out that as the development does not meet the thresholds – increasing traffic flows by 30 per cent or affect sensitive areas by 10 per cent – no traffic impact assessment is required to be submitted. It added there were no recorded accidents in the past three years on the Seaton to Broughton Moor road.
The parish council believes that no evidence had been given on the purpose of the visitors centre.
But the developer has said: “The overarching purpose of the visitor centre is to begin to allow community access to Derwent Forest.
“It will act as a museum to showcase the site’s rich history and former use as the RNAD site and will also serve as a memorial to those who lost their lives on site in the 1944 explosion.”
Broughton Moor Parish Council has requested that the council seeks a section 106 order, tying the developer into a legal agreement to ensure the development brings benefits to Broughton Moor, which it said was lacking in amenities.
The site is also a relic of Allerdale’s mining history and as such, the Coal Authority has supported a recommendation to carry out an investigation of the site, determining if works could pose a risk.
Derwent Forest Development Consortium said that the proposed visitor’s centre will play a part in the overall redevelopment of the RNAD site, which is the largest brownfield site in the North West.
Its plans to build 71 homes there was refused by the panel last month.
Councillors were concerned about the piecemeal approach to development at the site.
But a report on the proposed museum prepared for the panel reads: “The application’s details demonstrate modern utilitarian design which in officer’s opinion is reflective of the function and history of the site and the nature of existing military buildings found elsewhere on the site.
“The site of the centre is isolated and therefore not prominent to public view.”
