WElCOME TO HAITHWAITE
OUR PLANS
Thanks for visiting The Haithwaite Farm website
We have plans to regenerate and diversify the traditional farmstead at Haithwaite creating an ecotourism, cultural and heritage hub which will promote rewilding and renewable energies. Comprising of a café, farm shop, taphouse, exhibition space, heritage centre, estate office,Wellness centre holiday and staff accommodation with the ambition of strengthening a sense of place for the local community.
We held community consultation event on Friday 4th February 2022 in The Moot Hall at Netherby Estate and exibited our initial plans for this new regenaration of Haithwaite Farm alongside a recycled timber model.
Over the course of 2022, these plans have been refined and developed. These plans were submitted to Carlisle City Council and validated on 20th November 2022. The determination date is set for 20th February 2023.
Plans were approved for the project by Cumberland Council on the 10th May 2023.
Since then we have been working with our architects, quantity surveyors, engineers, landscape architects, archaeologist and ecologists.
We have also nominated a main contractor for the project Meldrum Construction who have made a start on site.
The Design and Access Statement, which details our current proposal for the site, can be accessed here.
Haithwaite
In Context
Vision
Mission
Netherby Hall Limited is a company set up by Gerald and Margo Smith. The Company’s Vision and Mission are:
To create a sustainable future for Netherby Hall and Pentonbridge Inn by delivering fantastic experiences for our guests.
To deliver experiences that set new standards of excellence and attract visitors from around the world to the historic borderland between Scotland and England. We aim to set the standard in hospitality, not only for quality & service, but also in the way that we look after our people. Our goal is to be the employer of choice for suitably qualified candidates, as well as a destination to which people return time after time.
Creating a sustainable future requires the generation of sufficient income to cover costs, which are substantial. The largest element of cost is staff and the Company employs approximately thirty staff and supports local businesses in the area.
Currently the Company generates income principally from the letting of self-catering accommodation at Netherby Hall, the holding of a small number of events at Netherby Hall and from the sale of food and drink and the provision of accommodation at Pentonbridge Inn.
In the long term in order to become sustainable it is necessary to either increase revenues to cover the Company’s fixed costs or to substantially reduce those costs. Given the upward pressure on many of these costs from factors beyond its control, a sustained reduction in fixed costs would require a reduction in the number of employees. The owners’ preference is to expand the Company’s range of activities and increase its operating profits rather than reduce employment. They are willing to commit the necessary funds to make this possible provided that these new activities have a realistic prospect of generating the additional income required.
The planned development at Haithwaite Farm will add additional revenues directly from self-catering holiday lets, farm shop and café sales, wellness centre memberships and usage fees, exhibitions and workshop and studio rents. It should also have a positive impact on revenues at Netherby Hall and Pentonbridge Inn by increasing the range of activities for visitors to the area leading to increased numbers of visitors and an increase in the average length of stay. These indirect benefits will be shared with other providers of holiday accommodation and services for visitors in the area.
The Haithwaite site will also be hub for visitors interested in exploring the enhanced biodiversity within the re-wilding project on part of the overall site and for people interested in the history of the borders. A visitor centre focusing on the Border Reivers and wildlife safaris will start and finish from the site.
It is hoped that the broader site incorporating both the lands of the original Haithwaite and Peterscrook Farms and land adjacent to Pentonbridge Inn will become a flagship project for innovation in the management of land for the production of food and for environmental benefits. This should attract further investment to support the transition to a net zero rural economy including improvements in connectivity by rail and better internet speeds. Both of which would be of wider benefit to a currently very poorly connected community.
The stated ambitions of the Borderland Growth Deal are delivering green growth and attracting new businesses and investment. The signatories of the deal have committed themselves to improving connectivity, delivering skills and innovation and improving places to improve their longer-term resilience as well as to attracting new residents and more visitors to enjoy the beautiful natural environment of the region.
The location of the site close to the boundaries of four counties, Cumbria, Northumberland, Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders and within the Carlisle City region, places it at the heart of the area covered by the Borderlands Growth Deal. The development of Haithwaite Farm as proposed here dovetails perfectly with the aims of the deal.
Borderland Growth Deal
CONTACT
Thank you for your time looking over our exciting plans for Haithwaite's future. Should you have any questions regarding the plans please use the contact email address below. Please don't hesitate to contact us with any concerns you may have.
If emailing please use the subject heading Haithwaite Plans, or call our team at Netherby Hall.