A number of nature and landscape charities have joined forces to object to plans for a £100 million holiday resort in South Cumbria.
The charities fear the proposals for Roanhead Farm, near Askam-in-Furness, will be a serious threat to the internationally significant nature reserve at Sandscale Haws and the wider Morecambe Bay and Duddon estuary.
The planned development is next-door to the nature reserve and estuary. ILM Group wants to build 450 cabins, leisure and retail facilities at the site, which it says will attract 130,000 visitors a year.
The land is owned by brothers Terry and Jimmy Curtis, 78 and 76. They say the resort would provide a much-needed boost into the local economy. UK economic development firm Hatch projects the resort could generate a net impact of £59.1 million from direct employment to the area over the next 10 years.
But the National Trust, RSPB, Friends of the Lake District, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust and Wildfowl and Wetland Trust have joined forces to object to the scheme.
They say they have a range of concerns – including the number of visitors forecast, which they say has the potential to disturb the fragile ecosystems of the sites, which are home to some of the rarest and most protected species in the UK.
The Sandscale Haws nature reserve is a much-loved locally, the charities said.
Dan Taylor, general manager for the National Trust which looks after the reserve, said “We want to ensure that local people can continue to enjoy this special place, balancing our conservation work to safeguard a very sensitive ecosystem whilst providing a warm welcome.
“We are concerned that the scale of this development would risk irreparable harm to the fragile wildlife habitat, and would also reduce the benefit that it provides to local communities.”
The charities said the planning application for the resort requires the developer to demonstrate the impact its visitors would have on the nature reserve and estuary and how that would be mitigated.
But the charities claim: “The Habitat Regulation Assessment chapter includes no survey work outside of the development boundary which is a significant omission.
“The mitigation proposals included in the application to deal with the sheer volume of additional visitors and dogs are weak and impossible to enforce.”
The brothers have highlighted the site’s industrial past and said the development would deliver ‘transformational’ benefits for the area.
They say their vision for the site is for it to become an environmentally friendly resort that provides employment and opportunity for hundreds of local people of all ages, with 265 full time equivalent jobs available. 199 of these workers expected to be from Cumbria and 132 from the Barrow area.
Other serious concerns include inadequate access for the additional 943 vehicle movements a day along a very narrow country lane, the noise, light and water pollution created by thousands of visitors, the visual impact on the landscape and the impact on the character of the area.
The charities added: “We believe the additional visitor number of 130,000 stated in the planning application is a very low estimate based on the capacity of the proposals submitted.”
Stephen Trotter, chief executive of Cumbria Wildlife Trust, said: “Cumbria Wildlife Trust is very concerned about the proposed resort as it’s immediately next to highly sensitive sand dune habitats, with rare and threatened wildlife like the biggest population of natterjack toads in Britain, otters, large numbers of threatened wading birds, unusual plants and the rare spring mining bee.
“The extra disturbance and pressure may put at risk much of this special wildlife and some may disappear altogether.
“We strongly support the need for economic regeneration in Barrow-in-Furness and we welcome new jobs and opportunities in the area, but it’s vital that development doesn’t damage the internationally important natural assets on which society is based.
“We strongly support the growth and development of sustainable tourism but in our view, this is simply the wrong location for this scale of holiday resort. It’s just too close to such an important and irreplaceable wildlife site.”
Friends of the Lake District CEO Michael Hill added: “We’re standing with the local community and other concerned organisations to make clear that this is the wrong development, in the wrong place and must be stopped.”
The RSPB has also raised its concerns about the development.
Robin Horner, RSPB area manager and chair of the Morecambe Bay Local Nature Partnership, said: “The Duddon Estuary is internationally important for its wildlife and nature urgently needs more protection, not less. Natterjack toads, for example, are Britain’s rarest amphibian and the coastal areas that would be impacted by this development are home to a quarter of them.
“We have grave concerns that this development would have a detrimental effect on some of the UK’s rarest plants and birds, such as the endangered curlew, and will work with partners to oppose it.”
A campaign group, Save Roanhead, has also been set up by concerned local people who are objecting against the plans.
