STAFF at South Lakes Wild Animal Park are celebrating after winning an appeal which will allow it to almost triple in size.

Expansion plans for the Dalton-in-Furness attraction were given the green light by the Government’s Planning Inspectorate.

Owner David Gill wants the park to become the Lake District’s ‘flagship attraction’ “I will spend around £4million in the local economy via employment, contractors and suppliers and this will help the area in many ways,” he said “We plan to employ 15 more staff in key roles over the next years.

“This approval safeguards 50 jobs and will bring many new animals to the park and gives more space and new habitats to animals.”

Last year was the park’s busiest since opening in 1994, as visitor numbers grew by 31,000 to over 300,000. Turnover rose by 11%, gift shop sales by 12% and restaurant sales by 9%. Four more staff were taken on.

Mr Gill and his team will now be able to welcome ‘big cats’ such as jaguars to the park for the first time.

A children’s farm will also be added and animals’ housing will be improved. Visitor facilities will be revamped and a larger car park created.

They are hoping to get the buildings done by September and work on the interiors for the rest of the year so the new big cats could be in place by 2013.

Mr Gill went to the planning inspectorate after feeling frustrated when Barrow Borough Council’s planning committee did not rule on his planning application after a year.

The authority had indicated that planning permission would be refused, believing the project would be an over-development of a greenfield site and cause traffic problems for residents of Melton Terrace, off the A590, where the new entrance would be located.

The council said that one of the reasons it had taken so long to resolve the matter was because some of the application details were not clear enough.

But independent inspector Paul Dignan ruled that the council’s concerns were outweighed by the benefits.

He said: “The proposal would not have an unacceptable impact on the living conditions of the residents of Melton House and Melton Terrace.”

Richard Greenwood, Cumbria Tourism's policy and research manager, said the organisation fully supported the proposals.

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