A decision on plans for a multi-million-pound outdoor centre on Walney is set to be made.
The centre would be built on land to the east of Earnse Bay and would be accompanied by a new urban park, supporting sports and other leisure activities.
The planning application said the building featured in the plan had been conceived as two halves – a community centre featuring a village hall, café and shop would be delivered by Cumbria County Council, while an environmental education centre ‘focusing on outdoor and beach activities’ would be delivered by Natural England.
It would include school rooms, an office and a garage and workshop.
The outdoor space would include a rounders pitch, community gardens and growing space, and camping facilities. A total of 10 spaces for disabled and staff parking would be provided on site.
The application said an underused next-door car park, capable of accommodating around 170 cars, would account for the remaining provision.
The overall plan, put forward by Cumbria County Council, is to be looked at by a meeting of Barrow Borough Council’s planning committee on Tuesday.
Case officer Charles Wilton has produced a report ahead of the meeting, in which he recommends that the committee says that it was minded to approve the application.
Sport England has objected to the application on the grounds that the site, off West Shore Road, incorporates land that has been used as a playing field within the past five years.
“The proposal would cause the loss of the majority of the playing field with no replacement playing field or enhancements of other facilities in Barrow to mitigate that loss, loss of the changing pavilion, and does not propose a new sports facility that could be considered of benefit to sport to outweigh the loss,” says Mr Wilton.
It is for this reason that the planning committee can only be minded to approve the application, said the report.
Mr Wilton says the application would need to be referred to the Secretary of State/government office.
