Controversial plans to build a £100 million resort in Furness have been withdrawn.
Developers ILM Group and applicants J and JT Curtis have withdrawn an application to Westmorland and Furness Council for a new holiday resort consisting of up to 450 lodges on land at Roanhead Farm near Askam.
This comes after news in October that the likely operator of the development, Landal GreenParks, had suspended discussions with the developer until a revised plan was created that addressed the ‘challenging ecological environmental concerns’ related to the application.
The development included proposals for indoor and outdoor leisure facilities, a residential student training academy as well as retail facilities including a bar and brasserie.
The proposed development has been controversial, and a petition called Save Roanhead from Developers received over 7,000 signatures.
Kelly Holland, founder of the Save Roanhead campaign group, previously said: “On behalf of our ever-growing 7,000-strong petition and 4,500 Facebook members we would like to publicly thank the conservation and business experts who have objected.
“We believe the council has no option but to listen to all of the objections from their residents, local businesses, and statutory organisations and reject this planning submission.”
The proposals received objections from town councils in the area, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Friends of the Lake District and Natural England, among others.
An objection from Friends of the Lake District said: “This proposal is large in scale and proposed in a rural area of open countryside and on a stretch of undeveloped coast that is subject to several local, national and international biodiversity and geodiversity designations on which it will have a significant effect.
“It will impact significantly on landscape character, visual amenity, tranquillity and on the recreational value and function of the area for local people. In addition, it is not readily accessible by sustainable modes of transport such as walking, cycling or public transport.”
However, in the planning statement developers state over a 10 year period the estimated gross visitor spend would be £202 million and the additional spend will support over 200 jobs in Cumbria.
In a letter submitted with the plans, managing director of Cumbria Tourism Gill Haigh, said: “We believe this leisure project will bring transformational benefits to Furness and Barrow, providing a high quality accommodation and leisure offer that will be hugely attractive to Cumbrian visitors with clear benefits for the wider areas and communities of Barrow, Morecambe Bay, the Lake District Coast and the county as a whole.”
