The goal of making Barrow's Marina Village site a unique and sustainable residential neighbourhood in the heart of the town has moved closer.
Westmorland and Furness Council's Cabinet approved a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) to guide the transformation of the 27-hectare site into a modern, attractive and desirable place to live.
The SPD will help to guide future residential development on the dockside site and ensure planning applications are high quality and approved quickly.
The guidance includes advice on providing affordable homes, encouraging walking and cycling, protecting nature and improving public open space. The sustainable homes will be energy efficient and gas free.
There will also be a requirement for developers to contribute towards the improvement of local education and health care provision related to the increase in population.
Cabinet also agreed to follow a "Master Developer Model" to develop the site, where a single developer would take responsibility for the initial planning, design, infrastructure delivery, and coordination of a major development site.
Members heard that this coordinated approach ensures consistent quality, long-term stewardship, and cohesive place making while de-risking the process for individual developers and local authorities, and agreed to start the procurement process to appoint a master developer.
With a focus on a choice of new family homes, the council's vision for the site is for it to be: “A high quality, well-designed waterfront neighbourhood set along Barrow’s active historic docks, it will offer a new, contemporary housing choice within walking distance of Barrow Town Centre. Set within a sustainable network of vibrant and natural spaces, which support well-being, active travel and a great quality of life, it will offer homes where you can set down roots. A place where heritage, nature, community and landscape connect to Barrow’s industrial future and thrives."
The development when complete will provide 800 new homes and strengthen the council's work with government and BAE Systems as the Team Barrow partnership to ensure that interventions needed to support employment opportunities at BAE are transformational, inclusive and long lasting for Barrow, Westmorland and Furness, and beyond.
Councillor Virginia Taylor, Cabinet Member for Sustainable Communities and Localities, said: “It’s a privilege and a responsibility for us to guide the creation of a well-designed place with a real heart, where people can live good lives, bring up their families in safe, warm houses that don’t cost a fortune to run, and stay in their community as they grow older.
"Unlocking this former industrial land and seeing it transformed into a thriving residential community in the centre of Barrow is one of the council's biggest schemes and tremendously important for the town, Westmorland and Furness and beyond. This Supplementary Planning Document, informed by engagement with local people, is a vital part of ensuring it is developed in the best way possible for residents and the town."
Councillor Judith Derbyshire, Cabinet Member for Housing and Community Safety, said: "It is fantastic to see the long-held aspiration to create housing on this fantastic waterfront site becoming a reality. Securing a master developer will be a major step towards creating a neighbourhood and helping to create safe and fulfilling futures for hundreds of people of all ages in this great place."
When remediation is complete, the site will be ready to provide 800 new homes, a nature conservation area and new public open spaces – a vital part of Barrow’s wider regeneration agenda, creating a vibrant community and providing new housing in the heart of the town near to centres of education, major employers and local shops and businesses and changing perceptions of Barrow as a place to live.
Work has started on remediating the second phase of 19 hectares ready for development, supported by £24.8 million of Brownfield, Infrastructure and Land (BIL) funding of from Homes England. Phase 1 of the development – the remediation of six hectares of land funded by £5.5 million secured from the Government’s Getting Building Fund, administered by Cumbria LEP – was completed in November 2023.
The construction of phase two, due to be completed by March 2026, includes remediation, the installation of associated enabling infrastructure, including a realigned Cavendish Dock Road, to assist future housing suppliers to develop the site, and the diversion or protection of key utilities. The project also aims to relocate the council’s Salthouse Road waste depot, with a feasibility and outline design study under way relating to a temporary location.