ZOO owners have announced five wooden viewing areas are being demolished after concerns were raised around their safety and "decaying" condition.

South Lakes Safari Zoo made the announcement at the meeting of the licensing regulatory committee at Barrow Borough Council yesterday, saying they planned to reopen two once they met safety standards.

A report by structural engineers RG Parkins and Partners Ltd dated January 18 found evidence of timber decay, "overstressed" joints and inadequate handrails on the structures.

The zoo announcement follows controversy surrounding the strength of timber used in the wooden viewing areas, which were previously popular with visitors to get an up-close experience of the animals.

Barrow Borough Council issued a direction order and ruled the public walkways at the Dalton zoo should be shut on health and safety grounds in December.

At the time, the zoo said shutting the walkways would effectively shut the attraction altogether.

However, an email dated January 19 by David Gill, zoo founder, to Barrow Borough Council, read aloud in the meeting, said: "I can tell you that before any report was received I had already made a long-term business decision to remove all the walkways except two.

"This decision was based on the assumption of the inevitable ageing of all of the walkways and the potential need for constant maintenance and eventual replacement of individual wood elements as need arose."

The wooden areas which will remain and be strengthened are the snow leopard/wolf access ramp and the bear/worldwide safari walkway.


Karen Brewer Karen Brewer, spokeswoman for the zoo, told councillors at Barrow Town Hall that the zoo was keen to complete the work as soon as possible.

She said: "We have got half-term coming. We really, really could do with reopening."

An inspection of the zoo on January 20 found the tiger and lemur walkways had already been removed, and the giraffe and anteater viewing platforms, as well as the restaurant balcony, had been barricaded off to prevent public access.

Councillors passed five recommendations at the meeting, including extending the deadline to allow remedial works reports to be completed to May 31 and delegating power to the environment health manager at Barrow Borough Council to open the wooden sections as and when they meet conditions.