A protest against plans for an £100 million holiday resort in South Cumbria is set to be held later this month.
Members of the Save Roanhead Campaign plan to present a 6,500-name petition to Westmorland and Furness Council in Barrow on August 26.
They object to the proposals for Roanhead Farm, near Askam-in-Furness, because they will be a serious threat to the area – saying it is the ‘wrong size, wrong type and wrong place’.
A planning application has been lodged with the authority, which will decide if the scheme can go ahead.
The National Trust, RSPB, Friends of the Lake District, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust and Wildfowl and Wetland Trust 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.
But developers ILM Group claim it will increase habitats and flora and fauna species should the resort go ahead. Environmental experts Enzyco carried out a six-month analysis and in a report commissioned by the developers, said the resort would bring a ‘substantial gain in biodiversity’.
The land at Roanhead Farm was once the site of the largest and most productive iron ore mines in the world before being restored to farmland in the 1960s to provide commercial grazing for dairy production, the developers said.
Chris Schofield, a leading ecologist with Enzygo, said: “Though the land looks green, there is actually little value in the farmland pasture habitats on the site.”
A statement released by the developers said it would work with organisations like the National Trust, to bring additional management and potential future funding for surrounding wildlife and ecosystems.
It said it had been in dialogue with the National Trust since 2001 about the development and the planning authority to agree the scope of the environmental assessments and other reports.
The statement added: “ILM Group has also produced a destination management plan for the site, setting out in detail how a positive relationship between the resort and adjacent sites, including Sandscale Haws, would be established and maintained. The document was based on thorough research into best practice at other locations across the UK and worldwide, including Formby and the UK national parks.”
Andrew Coutts, managing director of ILM Group, said: “The proposed resort is nothing like the typical holiday park many people might envisage.
“It would feature around six lodges per acre, a far cry from modern housing which can include up to 18 homes on the equivalent space.
“The resort will also appeal to people who are interested in and respectful of nature, who want to relax surrounded by wildlife and who enjoy the space and tranquility that Roanhead Lodge Resort would be able to offer.
“The enhancement of local ecosystems is central and critical to everything that we want to achieve at the resort and something we are planning extremely carefully for.”
But objectors question the developer’s claims of ‘working with organisations like the National Trust’ as that organisation has lodged an objection against it.
Kelly Holland, Save Roanhead campaign member and founder, said: “On behalf of our ever growing 6,500-name petition and 4,500 Facebook members we would like to publicly thank the conservation and business experts who have objected.
“As a group we were further heartened by each of the parish council responses also; at our last committee meeting, we received feedback that there was a round of applause at the Askam – Ireleth’s Parish Council meeting – with the local community being extremely vocal about not wanting this development.”
The campaign team will be at Barrow Town Hall at 11am on August 26 and are inviting people to join them.
