Plans to transform an abandoned dockyard in Barrow are set to take another step forward.
The Barrow Waterfront – formerly Marina Village – scheme is aiming to regenerate an area off Salthouse Road and Cavendish Dock Road.
The #BrilliantBarrow group, which began as a bid to win funding from the Government’s Towns Fund, said ‘high-quality mixed homes’ were to eventually sit side-by-side with wildlife habitats.
Barrow borough councillor Martin McLeavy said the project would put Barrow on the map.
“It’s got to be a bonus for the town,” he said. “It will tidy up that area, which desperately needs it.”
Stuart Klosinski, an economic development consultant based in the Furness area, said: “It’s another essential step in the transformation of Barrow as a whole, in particular the arc of development that runs from Jubilee Bridge all the way over towards Salthouse Mills and the gas terminal.
“That’s going to be a main driver of change and growth and new housing for the rest of this decade.”
Three planning applications to determine if prior approval is required for the demolition of buildings have now been submitted by Barrow Borough Council.
Each application says that the land in question is to be ‘redeveloped as part of the Barrow waterside [Waterfront] site’.
One application relates to Auto Image, a car sales office in Cavendish Dock Road. Another relates to Horrocks and Cross, a former vehicle hire office in Salthouse Road. The third relates to 2nd Time Around, a reclamation yard in the Strand.
The expected start date for each demolition is February 1 of next year, with the expected finish date March 1.
The #BrilliantBarrow website said work on the first six acres of the site was expected to get under way thanks to funding of £5.5m from the Government’s Getting Building Fund, secured by Cumbria County Council and administered by Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership.
“This would pave the way for some 650 homes to be delivered,” says a #BrilliantBarrow spokesman on the group’s website.
“#BrilliantBarrow funding will cover further work, preparing land to be released for the development of additional homes.
Cllr McLeavy stressed the importance of making the homes that were built affordable.
“The last thing I would want to see is people from all over the country coming and buying up the properties on the Marina and using them as holiday lets,” he said.
“We need to get it done. We have talked about it enough. We have been on about this for I don’t know how long.”
Mr Klosinski said it was his understanding that Barrow Borough Council would encourage developers to ‘provide a range of housing solutions’.
