Eco activity village for Weardale
by Helen Patenall | 30 Apr 2009
A 330-hectare Renewable Energy Village at Eastgate in Weardale may become a reality if Durham County Council approves the revised planning application recently submitted by Weardale Task Force.
The ecologically sustainable site to be built on a former cement works located in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty will feature Britain's second public geothermally heated spa and a hotel, as well as homes, office space and workshop accommodation.
The development will include an area of warm water fish breeding ponds heated by geothermal hot water, an outdoor education centre and riverside footpaths at Riverside Meadows.
A cable car will provide visitors with access to a dry toboggan run and a rural crafts and rare breeds centre set in woodland at The Slopes, while The Tops at the former quarries will offer a narrow gauge railway, cycle routes for all abilities and information boards on the wildlife, geology and history of the area.
The development will use all five forms of land-based renewable energy available in the UK - hydro, solar, wind, biomass and geothermal - to generate enough green electricity to offset the energy consumption of the whole of Weardale.
Revisions to the original master plan submitted a year ago include more 'quiet' areas of woodland and greater protection for the local wildlife.
One NorthEast's John Topliss, project manager for Eastgate Renewable Energy village, said: "We want to enable development to happen whilst giving appropriate consideration and protection to ecology, landscape and other issues.
"Additional survey work was requested by some of the statutory consultees and that work has now been incorporated into a final master plan.
"It now rests with the local planning authority to determine our application after officers have carried out a formal round of consultation on our supplementary submission."
A decision on the outline planning application is expected this summer.
A 330-hectare Renewable Energy Village at Eastgate in Weardale may become a reality if Durham County Council approves the revised planning application recently submitted by Weardale Task Force. The ecologically sustainable site to be built on a former cement works located in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty will feature Britain's second public geothermally heated spa and a hotel, as well as homes, office space and workshop accommodation.
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