ALLERDALE Borough Council has issued a statement following a planning application submitted by M-Sport in West Cumbria.
A spokesperson for the council said: “Allerdale Borough Council is currently considering an Updated Noise Management Plan for M-Sport’s Dovenby Hall site. The plan is a requirement of a condition of the original planning application for the Evaluation Centre, Testing and Evaluation Facility and associated developments approved in 2015.
“The council is assessing the documentation received from M-Sport’s agents required to ensure that noise levels at the agreed receptors such as nearby residential areas and the school will comply with the community noise limits when the Testing and Evaluation Facility is brought into use.
“The Updated Noise Management Plan will be taken to the council’s Development Panel who will make a decision.
“No use of the Testing and Evaluation Facility can take place until the Updated Noise Management Plan is agreed by the council.
“Officers will be writing to Dovenby and Bridekirk Parish Council offering to host a meeting in the parish in due course to listen to any comments and answer queries where possible.”
M-Sport issues a media release on 6 December 2019 giving an update on their state-of-the-art Evaluation Centre, a multi-million-pound facility at the firm’s Dovenby Hall Estate was on course for completion next autumn.
Work on the self-contained workshop began in May and construction is now well underway with 550 tonnes of structural steelwork and roofing virtually complete and all external precast concrete walls installed in just over six months.
The project was made possible with investment from the UK Government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF) as well as Growth Fund investment provided by Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership (CLEP) and will allow M-Sport to develop a one-of-a-kind facility in the UK.
Sitting alongside a 2.5-kilometre test track, the 10,723 m2 workshop will complete the facility – offering a unique centre of engineering excellence and ensuring Cumbria plays its part to boost local economy, skills and innovation within the Northern Powerhouse.
In the media release, M-Sport Managing Director, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said: “This project has been 10 years in the making, and it’s fantastic to see it all coming together now. I’m extremely proud of what we have developed alongside Northern Developments, and it’s incredible to see how quickly things are progressing.
“Once complete, we will have a unique facility where industry leaders in motorsport and automotive technology can follow a concept from design to production – offering an exclusive centre of engineering excellence, here in Cumbria.”
Commercial Manager for Northern Developments, Eddie Ward also said: “As Malcolm notes we have been collaborating with M-sport on this project since 2010. It is a significant and complex Design and Build of which we are very proud, and we’re pleased to finally see it on-site and taking shape so quickly.”
