Town in Cumbria unveils £25m regeneration plan

Copeland Council has unveiled a multi-million-pound regeneration scheme for Whitehaven in Cumbria.

The council has developed a scheme totalling approximately £25m, and will next month submit its bid to the government’s Future High Streets Fund for around £15m to help deliver it.

The plans which were made public earlier this week (May 13) include conversion of the former Whittles building on Duke Street into a community digital hub, creating a seafood restaurant and cycle-friendly accommodation on Marlborough Street and developing new residential opportunities.

They also would like to connect the town centre and the harbour by creating new arcades between King Street and Strand Street, offering food court, artisan and small-scale leisure spaces

The authority learned in July 2019 that it had been selected to go forward to the final phase of its application to the £1bn national pot, having been ranked among the UK’s best initial bids by government officials.

Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership has already confirmed match-funding of £1,056,649 of the Local Growth Fund towards the scheme.

Mike Starkie, Mayor of Copeland, said: ‘We are incredibly proud to reveal our plans for Whitehaven, and I believe we have created a compelling and exciting bid to secure significant funding for the town.

‘The bold schemes that are proposed tick every box in terms of the government’s criteria of connectivity and diversification.

‘While repurposing unused buildings, we intend to create a more cohesive town that utilises King Street and the harbour as a united space and offers residents, workers and visitors new and high quality experiences in food, digital, culture, health and wellbeing.

‘It would improve the start of the C2C as a flagship of the town, drawing in leisure and cycle tourism and make the most of Whitehaven’s position of hosting three national cycle routes and linking into our Connecting Cumbria’s Hidden Coast opportunity.’

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