Barrow Waterfront Business Park revisited
Cumbria County Council is kickstarting the long-awaited scheme at Barrow-in-Furness with the launch of the formal tendering process to appoint a contractor for £4m of site preparation.
The project ran out of funding in 2010 when the Coalition spending review halted hundreds of publicly backed developments and abolished the North West Development Agency, which was funding the business park. A road was built into the site before the work stopped.
A scaled-back version of the scheme will now resume, funded by £5.5m from government and £1.8m from Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership.
Work is due to begin in summer 2016 and end in March 2017. The selected contractor will reclaim and remediate an area of existing brownfield dockland. The project involves site clearance including an area of old community allotments, earthworks and ground remediation to create appropriate site levels and ground conditions for development, drainage, and highway and landscaping works to improve access and appearance.
The council said building a marina at the site remains a priority. The fresh start on the business park follows news of a £23m base to be built by BAE Systems at the submarine yard nearby.
The deadline for expressions of interest is midday 4 March 2016.
