The site is a long-term regeneration priority for the council. Credit: Google Earth

Spring start for Barrow’s transformative Marina Village

Thomas Armstrong has been awarded the £3.5m contract to begin remediation works on the first 15 acres of the project, facilitating the building of up to 650 homes.

Thomas Armstrong’s task includes demolishing existing buildings on the former Furness Railway Workings site, as well as installing landscape and planting areas. Soil and groundwater will also have to be tested. Already the slow worms and lizards on the site have been relocated to designated conservation areas.

The work is expected to complete this winter, at which point the site will be marketed to developers.

Planning permission was secured for the scheme earlier this month. Funding for the remediation works comes from Cumbria County Council, which is working alongside Barrow Council on Marina Village. The county council was awarded £5.5m for the scheme from the government’s Getting Building Fund.

Further phases of work on the nearly 65-acre site are set to be funded through the #BrilliantBarrow initiative, which was granted £25m from the Towns Fund for seven regeneration projects, including Marina Village. Homes England is also working with Barrow Council to identify funding for the second phase of remediation work.

“Preparing a site like the Marina Village is a lengthy and complicated process,” said Barrow Council Leader Ann Thomson.

“Having this planning permission in place is a significant milestone on the journey of this location from derelict land to a thriving community in the heart of the town,” she continued.

Cumbria County Council’s cabinet member for economic development, Cllr David Southward, said the council was “delighted” to support Barrow on the project.

“This work will make a six-hectare section of the site ripe and ready for development for new homes to be built,” Southward said. “Marina Village is a popular area of the town and ideally located close to major employers, schools and colleges and sustainable transport links.”

Carlisle-based Capita was the planning consultant for the scheme. The project team also included Ecus and Curtins.

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