YMCA Windermere site hits market for £5m

Comprising 18 acres, YMCA Lakeside – North Camp already has planning permission for a modern training facility with 61 bedrooms, new staff accommodation buildings, and 12 holiday lodges.

YMCA Fylde Coast has owned North Camp for more than 70 years. The organisation has opted to put the site on the market to help fund further investments in its adjacent property, YMCA Lakeside – South Camp.

Sanderson Weatherall is the agent for North Camp and is accepting offers of more than £5m for the freehold of the site.

North Camp benefits from planning permission secured in 2014, an application that also included an outdoor education facility at South Camp. This £6.5m project has since completed. You can see the 2014-approved planning application by searching application reference number 7/2013/5621 on the Lake District National Park’s planning portal.

Situated three miles north of Newby Bridge, North Camp has 300 metres that go along the west bank of Windermere. The site includes a sheltered bay with a boat house, landing stages, and a jetty. There is also a range of buildings on the site – most of which are considered dated. These total more than 30,000 sq ft and can be demolished under the 2014 planning permission.

There are five two-storey, timber lodges at the camp as well as 14 chalets. These would be replaced with the holiday lodges, via the old planning application.

A large director’s house also sits at the camp.

Graham Oatridge, chief executive of YMCA Fylde Coast, described the property’s history and impact over the past 70 years.

“Over this time, it has helped more than one million young people achieve more than they ever thought possible by offering residential outdoor education and learning experiences on the western shores of Windermere,” Oatridge said.

Adam Burkinshaw, partner at agent Sanderson Weatherall, described the property as a “unique and prime opportunity in the heart of the Lake District National Park”.

He continued: “It is expected the property will attract a great deal of interest from a wide range of prospective applicants and we look forward to securing a sale to help the YMCA continue with the fantastic work they do.”

Those interested in purchasing the property will have to provide an outline proposal of their future use for the site. The YMCA may include a restrictive convent in the deal to ensure that future developments do not compete or negatively impact the nearby South Camp.