Access road to Cumbria business park approved

Work on a new access road for Waterfront Business Park, currently under construction in Barrow-in-Furness, is expected to start in a matter of weeks after Cumbria County Council's granted planning consent.

The Harding Rise road will not only serve the business park but has also been designed to remove traffic from residential areas of the Barrow Island community.

The Waterfront Business Park development, part of the £200m Waterfront Barrow-in-Furness development being led by West Lakes Renaissance, the urban regeneration company for Furness and West Cumbria, is expected to create around 1,500 new jobs.

Funding for the Harding Rise road and associated works is being sought from the North West Development Agency and the European Regional Development Fund. An announcement on the application will be made in November.

Harding Rise will be built on a specially-created embankment to link the existing Michaelson Road to the new road network on the soon to be completed Ramsden Business Park, the first phase of the Waterfront Business Park.

The road project includes the purchase of land adjacent to Egerton Court from BAE Systems and the relocation of a number of allotments.

The plans for Harding Rise and the allotments will be explained to local residents in more detail at a meeting of the Barrow Island Neighbourhood Forum on Wednesday 29 October.

The Waterfront Barrow-in-Furness masterplan consists of The Waterfront Business Park; a new Marina Village boasting 650 homes, a hotel, leisure facilities, restaurants and bars; a new 400-berth marina and Watersports Centre; a cruise ship terminal providing a sea gateway to The Lake District; and a wetland nature reserve.

The road is expected to be completed in August 2009.