Progress towards delivering on the vision for a vibrant new community of hundreds of new homes in the heart of Barrow has been showcased during a visit to mark a major milestone
Cabinet and ward members were joined on the Marina Village site by Brilliant Barrow and Team Barrow board members and representatives from Homes England.
The visit was organised to mark the start of phase two of the remediation of the 26-hectare site between Cavendish Dock and Salthouse Road.
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.
The development will 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 Judith Derbyshire, Cabinet Member for Housing and Community Safety, said: "Barrow is a fantastic place already but it is wonderful to see sites like this being made available. With all the positivity around Barrow and jobs being created at BAE Systems and other businesses, there is a pressing need for more housing. As a council we are committed to ensuring these are good houses to be able to allow people to come and live, work and enjoy being here.
"There have been aspirations over many, many years to create housing on this fantastic waterfront site and this investment, funded by Homes England, means we can soon be in a position to present an opportunity to a developer or developers to come in and get on with the job of building a minimum of 808 homes - helping to create safe and fulfilling futures for hundreds of people of all ages in this great place."
Councillor Virginia Taylor, Cabinet Member for Sustainable Communities and Localities, said: “This is a huge and wonderful opportunity to do good planning and make a fantastic place for people to live.
"Marina Village gives us the opportunity to develop a whole new neighbourhood, whole community, somewhere which isn't just a load of spread-out houses but 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.
"It's a huge opportunity and I'm really looking forward to us doing everything we can, together with all our partners, so we get it right for the people of Barrow now and in the future."
Specialist firm Redstart Northwest Ltd was appointed last year to complete a two-stage design and build contract for the remediation work. With the design completed, Redstart was awarded stage two (the construction contract), worth £16.5 million.
Steve England, managing director of Redstart Northwest Limited, said: "After nine months designing the scheme, including planning applications and remediation strategies and further investigations to understand what the constraints are, it is great to have made a start on site, start to see the vision be realised and be involved in leaving a legacy for the people of Barrow.
"Thanks to Westmorland and Furness Council for giving us the opportunity and putting the trust in us to deliver it."
Homes England has pledged £24.8 million to fund delivery of phase two of the site. Funding through Brilliant Barrow – regeneration funding from the Government’s Towns Fund – has also supported the scheme.
Duncan Inglis, Homes England Regional Director for the North, said: “As the government’s housing and regeneration agency, our aim is to support public and private sector partners to unlock strategic housing sites where brownfield, infrastructure or land projects face delivery challenges.
“The Marina Village site is a prime example of this, and the agency has worked closely with Westmorland and Furness council to support the regeneration of Barrow Waterfront, a former brownfield site. The development will provide over 800 new homes for the people of Barrow, supporting our mission to build much needed new communities that people can be proud to call home. This site is key to underpinning the ambitious economic growth ambitions for the town."
Significant progress has been made in the past three years assembling the land and funding package required to unlock the site's potential for a large housing development on the site.
Phase one of the development – the remediation of six hectares of land funded by £5.5 million secured from the Government’s Getting Building Fund – was completed in November 2023.
The construction phase of phase two 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.
Watch a video about the development here: https://youtu.be/UewcTi8wfRc