Derwent Forest Latest News
December 2011
Bright future ahead for Derwent Forest as councils seal
deal with developer
A landmark lease agreement for Derwent Forest has now been
finalised between the site owners Cumbria County Council and
Allerdale Borough Council and the new tenant, the private sector
developer Derwent Forest Developments Consortium (DFDC)
View the associated
press release for more information.
April 2011
Councils pick developer for Derwent Forest
Derwent Forest Developments Consortium has been chosen as the
preferred developer to progress with plans to transform the former
munitions depot at Broughton Moor in west Cumbria.
Land owners Allerdale Borough Council and Cumbria County Council
announced the joint decision on 6 April which marks the conclusion
of an exhaustive marketing and public consultation process;
designed to deliver the best possible use of the site (known as
Derwent Forest) for the benefit of local communities and the area
as a whole.
View the associated press
release for more information.
January 2011
Two developers still in the running for Derwent Forest
regeneration
Public meetings to be held in January 2011
Two potential developers have been selected to firm up their
plans to redevelop the site of Derwent Forest at Broughton Moor,
the former Royal Naval Armaments Depot in West Cumbria.
Cumbria County Council and Allerdale Borough Council, who
acquired the 425-hectare site in 2008, have decided to continue
working with both Derwent Forest Developments and ESH Developments
for a limited time period, as both proposed developments have their
strengths and there is no clear outright winner in the selection
process at this stage.
Public meetings will be held this month for
those living around the Derwent Forest site to give an opportunity
for people to learn more about this latest decision and how the
process will go forward from here.
The meetings will be held on:
12th January, 6.30pm, Seaton Junior School 13th
January, 6.30pm, Little Broughton Village Hall 17th January,
6.30pm, Broughton Moor School
View the associated
press release for more information.
September 2010 - Three developers in the running
for Derwent Forest regeneration
The development of Derwent Forest has taken
another step forward as three companies have submitted detailed
proposals on how they plan to develop the site.
Derwent Forest Developments, Esh Group and a
consortium of Kingmoor Park and Kier have all submitted more
detailed plans for how they want to develop the site after
initially expressing an interest earlier in the year. See the
associated press release available for download at the bottom
of the page for full details.
August 2010 - Developers appreciate wildlife on Derwent
Forest site
Developers keen to build on the former armaments depot at
Broughton Moor have been discovering more about the many species of
wildlife on the site. See the associated press
release for full details.
August 2010 - Community meeting in
Broughton
In response to public demand, the local community have
been given a further opportunity to keep abreast of the latest
situation at the site and also have their say on any possible
community benefits. The meeting took place on the 10th August at
Broughton Welfare Hall and around 50 people attended.
July 2010 - Minutes of Derwent Forest Partnership
Meeting available to download
The minutes from these meetings will now be available to
download at the bottom of the page.
June 2010 - Locals have their say on plans for community
benefits from Derwent Forest development
Improved road links, creating jobs, protecting wildlife and
better leisure facilities – these are some of the key things that
local people would like to see come out of the regeneration of the
former munitions depot at Broughton Moor. The views have been
captured in a report available in the downloadable documents
section at the bottom of the page. See the associated
press
release for full details.
May 2010 - Opportunity to influence plans
for community benefits of Derwent
Forest
People in west Cumbria are being invited to give their views on
the type of benefits they’d like to see included in the
regeneration of a former munitions depot.
Five companies have been shortlisted to develop
Derwent Forest, the former Broughton Moor Royal Naval Armaments
depot acquired by Cumbria County Council and Allerdale Borough
Council in 2008.
To ensure that the local community plays a role
in shaping any future development, public meetings are being held
at Seaton Junior School on June 8 and Broughton Moor Infants School
on June 9 where residents will be able to discuss the kind of
community benefits they would like to see.
Both meetings, organised by Cumbria County
Council and Allerdale Borough Council, will take place between
6.30pm and 9pm and invitations are being sent to parish councils in
Seaton, Camerton, Broughton Moor, Great Broughton and Little
Broughton.
Cllr Tony Markley, Cumbria County Council’s
Cabinet member for economic development, said: “I’d encourage
people invited to these meetings to try and get along to give their
views and help shape the future development of Derwent Forest.
“We want local people to play a part in bringing
back to life a site that has been closed off to the public for half
a century and to ensure that people living in the area are going to
reap the benefits of this regeneration by letting us know what
they’d like to see.”
Cllr David Wilson, Deputy Leader of Allerdale
Borough Council, said: “We are keen to ensure that any proposals
from the potential developers should feature a degree of community
benefit and we want to obtain the views of residents living near to
the Derwent Forest site in order to identify the priorities that
matter to them.
“Therefore we would urge anyone who has been
invited from the nearby communities to get involved in this process
and help us to secure a lasting legacy for the area which could be
of benefit to local people for years to come.”
While details of the intended land uses of the
site by the shortlisted companies are not being unveiled at this
stage, the firms can be revealed as ESH, M Sport, UK Coal,
Keir/Kingmoor Park properties and Derwent Forest Developments.
The eventual end uses of the site being
proposed include a range of leisure, tourism, business and housing
opportunities. There have been some concerns raised locally that
the site may be considered as the location of a deep geological
repository for radioactive waste, but this is not being proposed by
any of the shortlisted companies.
During the coming months, each of the five developers will be
invited to discuss their ideas with officers from the two councils,
and they will also be expected to demonstrate the benefits of their
proposals to local communities when they submit detailed proposals
by September 2010.
March 2010 - 12 expressions of interest
received
We received 12 submissions by the deadline from companies
interested in developing Derwent Forest. They will now be evaluated
and assessed by experts at Cumbria County Council, Allerdale
Borough Council, the North West Regional Development Agency and
DTZ, the marketing and property consultants who have been working
on the project.
At this stage we cannot give any information on the companies
who have submitted their outline proposals or the details of what
they are proposing as it is commercially sensitive
information.
The project partners will meet in mid April to discuss the
evaluations and we hope to be in a position to produce a shortlist
by the end of April. The number of companies on the shortlist is
flexible - those companies with realistic proposals which meet the
criteria laid out in phase one will be shortlisted. They will then
have a minimum of four months to produce more detailed
proposals.
We hope to keep local people and parish councils informed as we
progress through this process, but understandably there are
restrictions on how much detailed information we can go into at
this early stage.
October 2009 - Derwent Forest marketing takes giant leap
forward
Members of the councils’ joint Derwent Forest Advisory Group
have agreed to move ahead with the formal marketing of the
land.
Please view the associated press
release for further information.
February 2009 - Marketing Consultants
Appointed
An internationally-renowned marketing company has been chosen to
promote the Derwent Forest site in West Cumbria to potential
developers.
Allerdale Borough Council and Cumbria County Council, which jointly
own the land at Broughton Moor, announced today that UK-based
marketing consultants DTZ had beaten off stiff competition from
several other firms to market and secure a developer for the 1,050
acre site.
Please view the associated press
release for further information.
August 2008 - Site acquired
Allerdale Borough Council and Cumbria County Council have
jointly agreed to acquire the site for £1 from the Ministry of
Defence. The site will now be marketed and proposals invited for a
range of leisure and commercial developments.
Please view the associated press
release for further information.