Plans to build holiday park at Cumbrian beach withdrawn after protests
A group called 'Save Roanhead' was formed
A controversial plan to build a holiday park at a famous Cumbrian beach has been withdrawn following uproar from the local community.
The application was submitted to Westmorland and Furness Council by Lancashire-based Queensland Country Park.
It asked for permission to build 19 holiday lodges, 22 motorhome pitches and various office and facility buildings on land to the north of Hawthwaite Lane, to service visitors to Roanhead coastline.
The decision to withdraw their application was made on the 28 August, after lodging the application on 3 April 2024.
In response to the possibility of the land at Roanhead being developed, a group called “Save Roanhead” was formed.
The group has launched a petition to stop development, which has reached over 10,000 signatures.
A gofundme page was also set up for the campaign with the target of raising £500. So far, it has raised over £3,000.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Clive Welch, of Save Roanhead, said: “Our campaign team was heartened to see that local developer Queensland has done the right thing and withdrawn its planning application for a controversial holiday park at Roanhead.
“In the face of overwhelming opposition from conservation and landscape organisations and local councils they probably had no choice.
“On behalf of our 10,000+ strong petition and 4,800 Facebook members we would like to thank them for this.”
The development was objected to by the National Trust and the Royal Society for the Protections of the Birds (RSPB).
The RSPB went as far to say that the applicant “has completely failed to adequately” address the impact of the development on the Natterjack toads, an endangered species that breeds along the Roanhead coastline.
Currently, a decision to grant permission for larger holiday development lodged by the owners of Roanhead Farm, J & JT Curtis, is pending from the council.
Save Roanhead also oppose this development.