A MAJOR development for 50 new homes and a 40 bedroom hotel to help revitalise a dwindling community has been given a green light.


Wellbank masterplan. <a href="http://www.cnnewmedia.co.uk/locker/nw/image/wellbank-masterplan.jpg">Click here</a> to view a larger version National park planning bosses voted unanimously to approve the large scheme for Wellbank, between Bootle and Bootle Station, near Millom at their meeting at Murley Moss, in Kendal, yesterday. 

It is hoped the new homes and businesses proposed for the former military camp, which has been derelict for many years, will 'bring new blood to Bootle' by encouraging families from outside of the area to move in.

Project leaders now expect the turf cutting for the first phase of the landmark development to get underway by April with the initial phase of homes completed by the autumn.

The hybrid application - which has secured a mix of full and outline planning consent - is for a total of 50 new homes, of which 12 will be for social rent through a housing association.

In a landmark move, national park planners relaxed strict guidelines on local occupancy for new homes to allow anyone to live in the additional 32 houses as long as they are used as primary living accommodation.
Wellbank project co-ordinator Trudy Harrison (centre) has looked after the scheme from an early stage - regularly working at home with her four daughters; (l-r) Savannah, Rosie, Francesca and Gabrielle Harrison. 

The site would also provide a location for a 40 bedroom hotel and spa - providing jobs - as well as six business units. Project co-ordinator and Bootle resident Trudy Harrison said she felt 'jubilation' that the scheme had secured unanimous support from the Lake District National Park Authority.

In addressing the committee, she explained the new homes and an influx of new families would help to secure the future of Bootle's services including its GP surgery and shop, as well as bolstering the numbers of pupils attending Captain Shaw's School.

"Please don't hammer the death nail into Bootle's coffin but give us a chance for the future," Mrs Harrison said.

Following the successful vote, the mother of four added: "This project really is inspirational.

"We are desperate for inward migration. Wellbank has the potential to bring new life to Bootle and to secure its services for the future."

The committee was told Bootle had just three services left in the village as well as a declining population.

Just one per cent of its properties are used as second or holiday homes in contrast to other communities located within the boundary of the national park.

Bootle Parish Councillor Tony James said: "We had two choices, keep going or give up and we knew we couldn't give up," he told the Evening Mail.

"The objective of Wellbank is not to provide housing for local people but to bring people into the village who are capable of sustaining it and supporting local facilities."

Members of the LDNPA's development control committee said the scheme was innovative and sought to secure the community's sustainability for the future.

National park chairman Mike McKinley said: "I have no doubt that this decision is the right one to make and I support it wholeheartedly."

The application, which will see the site developed in eight individual phases, also includes a section 106 agreement which would provide £50,000 towards a new swimming pool for the community and £50,000 for a new pathway linking Bootle and Bootle Station.

Villagers applaud planning decision

PEOPLE across the area are welcoming the decision that will breathe new life into Bootle.

Tony James, a former Bootle parish councillor and an integral member of the team, was delighted that the plans had been approved.

He said: “This has fulfilled 10 years’ hard work. Everyone is so excited.The news has spread round the village like wildfire.

“It’s giving us the chance to regenerate. For a long time people tended to move out of the village because of limited number of good quality homes and this will bring in new residents to swell our numbers and keep our services going.

“This is a good day.”

Pete Mills, headteacher of Captain Shaw’s Primary School, was also thrilled by the news.

The Wellbank Project was born out of villagers’ fears that they would lose their beloved school and their tireless campaigning has seen Captain Shaw’s grow from a small school of less than 20 pupils to a thriving community hub.

Mr Mills said: “The Well bank project is really exciting for the future development of Captain Shaw's.  As a school we pride  ourselves on the innovative and creative yet relevant curriculum we provide for our pupils, and it would be fantastic to share that with even more families which hopefully the Wellbank development will bring with it.”

Wellbank Project signals new era for Lakeland village

COMMUNITY leaders are on the verge of securing an ambitiously bright future for a small village buried in the depths of the National Park.

The Wellbank Project signals a renaissance for the west Cumbrian community of Bootle which saw its prospects go from a fading village to a national leader of enterprise.

Its story began almost 10 years ago when dwindling pupil numbers threatened the village school with closure.

Appalled at the thought of losing their school, governors and parish councillors fought for its future and in 2012 managed to save its services for the coming generations.

Spurred on by their success, people within the community began to think deeper into ways in which they could invest in their village before finally arriving at the Bootle 2020 initiative that would see a radical transformation of the area.

At the heart scheme was a plan to create a new hub on a former holiday park and naval air station.

This hub would consist of a state-of-the-art hotel with 40 bedrooms and a luxury spa, six business units and a brand new housing estate.

People right across the area have shown their support for the project which residents hope will put their village on the map.

The luxury hotel is expected to make Bootle and the surrounding area and highly-sought after tourist destination and help promote the western lakes to holiday makers.

In addition, the new housing complex will provide much needed housing for the influx of workers who are set to move into the area to make use of £10bn nuclear new build just half an hour up the coast.

The Wellbank Project has given new hope to Bootle residents who are looking forward to a new era that takes their village out of the shadows and into the limelight of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities coming to Cumbria.