A MAJOR development for 50 new homes and a 40 bedroom hotel to help revitalise a dwindling community has been given a green light today. 

National park planning bosses voted unanimously to approve the large scheme for Wellbank, between Bootle and Bootle Station, near Millom at their meeting at Murley Moss, in Kendal.

It is hoped the new homes and businesses proposed for the former military camp which has been derelict for many years will 'bring new blood to Bootle' by encouraging families from outside of the area to move in.

Project leaders expect the turf cutting for the first phase of the landmark development to get underway by April with the first homes completed by the autumn.

The hybrid application - which has secured a mix of full and outline planning consent - is for 50 new homes, of which 12 will be for social rent through a housing association, 32 homes that must be used as full time accommodation, a 40 bedroom hotel and spa and six business units. 

Wellbank was described as a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity for the area by members of Bootle Parish Council. 

Today, project co-ordinator and Bootle resident Trudi Harrison said she felt 'jubilation' that the scheme had secured unanimous support from the Lake District National Park Authority.

"This project really is inspirational," she said.

"We are desperate for inward migration.

"Wellbank has the potential to bring new life to Bootle and to secure its services for the future."

Members of the LDNPA's development control committee said the scheme said the scheme was innovative and sought to secure the community's sustainability for the future.

National park chairman Mike McKinley said: "This development will help it through to greater things for the future.

"I have no doubt that this decision is the right one to make and I support it wholeheartedly." 

The application, which will see the site developed in eight individual phases, also includes a section 106 agreement which would provide £50,000 towards a new swimming pool for the community and £50,000 for a new pathway linking Bootle and Bootle Station.