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Roanhead is special. It's our sanctuary and we need your help to STOP a huge resort being built there!
Roanhead is the jewel in the crown of the Furness peninsula, a very special place for local people. It’s home to a National Nature Reserve with an incredible variety of wildlife including many endangered and rare species. Since 2022, following overwhelming opposition from conservation organisations and local people, two separate developers have been refused planning applications to build holiday parks at Roanhead.
Roanhead's controversial holiday park REFUSALS - a potted history
Roanhead's controversial holiday park REFUSALS - a potted history
1 - Roanhead Resort application for 450 lodges from ILM Real Estate, working with Landal GreenParks and Enzygo Ltd - WITHDRAWN
2 - Queensland Country Park screening application for 62 lodges and 40 caravan pitches from Peter Thompson, working with Holliss Vincent - DROPPED
3 - Queensland application for 19 lodges and 22 caravan pitches from Peter Thompson, working with CFM Consultants - WITHDRAWN
4 - Roanhead Resort application for 233 lodges from ILM Real Estate, working with Landal GreenParks and Enzygo - REFUSED
Roanhead is NOT the right place for sprawling holiday resorts with swimming pools, sports and leisure facilities, spas, shops, bars and restaurants. It borders multiple designated sites which are legally protected as habitats for endangered species. Holiday park applications were refused on watertight legal grounds following robust objections from multiple conservation organisations including Cumbria Wildlife Trust, the RSPB, the National Trust, Friends of the Lake District and many more.
Directed and written by Dom Bush and Nancy Burditt
Poem by Simon Sylvester
Soundscape and mix by Wayne Scurrah
Narrated by Dom Bush
Supported by National Trust
Mentioned in The Coast is our Compass, by Martyn Howe
"Turning the corner at Sandscale Haws, you are presented with one of England's most beautiful coastal vistas. Like St. Ives, in Cornwall, or the North Norfolk Coastline, the light that falls with a northern beach is rare, a light that has attracted artists over the centuries. In the case of Roanhead, it is even rarer to have the backdrop of the Lakeland Fells. Of all the walking I have done, exploring every nook and cranny of the coastline of the UK, this landscape is unique and should be protected. As I made the turn, avoiding plover eggs on the tide line, I couldn't help marvelling at the panorama's colours and composition. The meandering creeks and sands in the foreground, the rising hills to the fells as a background, all cast in the arc of a southern light that reveals detail and texture.
My journeys frequently pass through many static caravan estates, which have been obstacles to developing the King Charles III England Coast Path. In some cases, access to the coastal margins—a precious public space—has been denied for the sake of private interests. While this might not be the case at Roanhead, I am concerned that the developers' business case will not fully account for the cost of damage to the natural landscape, its ecology, and the environment due to increased demands on infrastructure and utility services. Their concern is profit, yet they fail to pay for the value of the environment, the very reason people are attracted to the area.
Such developments must be sensitive to these issues, as encapsulated in biodiversity planning regulations and policy in the 2021 Environment Act, but in the case of Roanhead, they should go further, recognising this environment's unique, irreplaceable character. I wish your campaign every success and hope to write in more detail in my future work as I come across similar coastal challenges around our wonderful coastline."
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