Maryport regeneration scheme
We have great plans for the redevelopment of Maryport to make it an even better place to live and visit. That's why we have set up a team specifically to work on regeneration projects in the town.
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Meet The Team
These are the people shaping the future of Maryport. They are making it an even better place to work and live.
Helen Brownlie
Maryport Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) Officer
Helen has worked for Allerdale Borough Council since 2006, as its Conservation Officer until 2020. Using her heritage experience, she was involved in the writing of the Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) bid, and when it’s success was announced, she took on the HAZ Manager role. In addition to the management of the HAZ programme, she is managing the HAZ Shopfront Grant scheme, as well as other smaller projects.
Previously she has worked in other parts of Cumbria and Newcastle, in Planning and Regeneration – in particular on Newcastle’s Grainger Town Project and following the Cockermouth floods of 2009.
Helen Brownlie
Steve Caunce
Capital Programmes Manager
Steve previously worked as a Contracts Manager in the construction industry within the Private sector carrying out work for United Utilities, Yorkshire Water and other Utility services together. He has a wide experience in general Building and Civil Engineering projects.
He joined Allerdale in March 2022 taking up the position of Capital Programme Manager to oversee the delivery of Capital Projects in both Maryport, Workington and Keswick.
Steve Caunce
Joe Broomfield
Senior Specialist Capital Projects Manager
Joe is no stranger to Maryport as he previously managed Maryport Townscape Heritage Initiative (MTHI). The scheme brought several empty buildings back into use including the Golden Lion Hotel
He now manages the following projects in the Regeneration Programme:
- Maryport Town Hall. Reconfiguration of the ground floor and external improvement works to the whole of the building.
- Maryport Residential Conversion grant Scheme (MRCS) – working with property owners to bring vacant first-floor or above properties back into use for residential purposes.
- Working in partnership with Cumbria County Council to oversee £1 million public realm enhancement scheme across various sites in Maryport.
- 1 Senhouse Street capital works – the Maritime Museum will move to Christ Church with 1 Senhouse Street being turned into an art gallery (this is in partnership with Joanne)
- Boardwalk project. Creating a formal, off-road pedestrian link between North Quay and Maryport promenade.
Joe Broomfield
Joanne Spencer
Project Manager
Joanne has a plethora of experience and has spent fifteen plus years mainly in the voluntary and community sector where she managed large scale, often complex development and regeneration projects.
Joanne now manages a number of projects in the Maryport Regeneration programme including the capital development works to restore Christ Church which will become the new home of Maryport Maritime Museum. She also works with the Maryport Arts and Heritage Partnership who are responsible for designing and delivering a programme of cultural activity celebrating the local character and heritage of Maryport’s Senhouse Street.
Joanne Spencer
Jeremy Hewitson
Strategic Advisor Projects Maryport
Jeremy has previously worked in Housing Development & Enabling with Carlisle City Council & Eden District Council since 2004. He has initiated a number of successful Housing projects by delivering approximately 100 affordable homes and 60 Extra Care properties, including facilitating practical onsite training opportunities for local construction students. Jeremy has a wealth of extensive experience of managing countywide multi-agency strategic partnerships.
For the Maryport Regeneration project he will be playing a key role in monitoring and overseeing the overall programme, including directly managing the Empire Yard market project.
Jeremy Hewitson
Heritage Action Zone (HAZ)
We were delighted to announce in August 2020 of the success of Maryport’s High Street Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) bid which will see an investment of £1.2m into the town centre.
The High Street HAZ programme will receive about half of its funding from Historic England and is the first of the Council’s Maryport regeneration initiatives to have been successful. The rest of the funding will come from the Council itself with other input from Sellafield and local building owners.
Keep an eye out for further project developments. Read more detail about the HAZ programme here.
Shopfront improvement scheme
Applications are invited for a new shopfront grant scheme aimed at enhancing Maryport's historical architecture has been launched as part of the town’s High Street Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) programme
The scheme, funded by Historic England and being run by Allerdale Borough Council, aims to replace eligible modern shopfronts which do not complement the historic architectural style of their host building or the conservation area, with shopfronts that will enhance the building and the street as a whole.
Shopfronts which are modern or non-traditional in Senhouse Street, or within the parts of Curzon Street or Crosby Street, may be eligible for a grant and are encouraged to get in touch with the council.
The grant scheme has a defined amount funding and will be available where a change in design is needed, rather than for repairs or decoration to historic or traditional looking shopfronts.
Businesses who believe they are eligible should email Allerdale officer, Helen Brownlie with details of the address in mind and its current use (if it has one). Helen can also provide further details on the main criteria and design guide.
Future High Streets Fund
In August 2019 it was announced that our initial bid to the Future High Streets Fund had been successful and we were through to the next round. Since then we have been working with the government and architects to develop the plans and held our first round of public consultation in February 2020, speaking to members of the public and community groups.
After seeking the views of the public and our partners, our plans were further developed and we opened up the next stage of our consultation on June 3, 2020 and ended the consultation on June 14, 2020. The proposals we consulted on - and a video summarising them - are further down this page.
On July 30, 2020, the final business case was submitted to the Government's Future High Streets Fund team. An announcement about the successful schemes is expected in the autumn.
We heard on 26 December 2020 that our initial bid had been successful and we had been provisionally awarded £11.5m from the government. And then on 26 May it was confirmed we had the money. Thanks to everyone who helped get us this far.
Watch our consultation video (5 mins):
Click on "full screen" to see it in a larger view. You can also see it on our YouTube channel .
Our Future High Street Fund proposals
Click below to read more about a specific part of our plans.
Connecting the route from Maryport Railway Station through to the high street, to the harbour and promenade is a key focus for the public realm proposals. Key pedestrian junctions along Curzon Street are reviewed as part of the overall scheme as well as the parking strategy and requirements for the town centre. Connecting these spaces along the high street by using a cohesive visual style which is easily identifiable to Maryport is a key aspiration for the project.
Due to this many of the interventions are replicated across the scheme, and include;
- Widening footpaths and reducing carriageway width to enhance the pedestrian environment.
- The creation of two 'gateway' features for visitors entering the town from the north and south along Curzon Street.
- The introduction of ornamental and tree planting where possible to soften the hard urban grain of the streetscape.
- And the creation of slight 'kinks' and the introduction of raised tables in the road along Senhouse Street to calm traffic.
- Matching new finger post traffic junctions along the route from station to the harbour.
- And the installation of benches and seating opportunities which are nestled into planting pockets.
- To create raised pedestrian crossings at key road junctions.
- And to retain on-street parking for existing residents.
Heron Foods Maryport
- The vision looks to address the number of vacant units especially at first floor within the town centre.
- A repurpose grant fund is proposed, which works with local building owners to upgrade their first floor accommodation into high quality office or residential units.
- The aim is to draw new users to Maryport while increasing footfall and demand along the high street.
Proposed plans for The Carlton
- A landmark property along the high street, it has been vacant for a number of years.
- Bringing this property back into active use is key for the vision for Maryport
- The proposal relocates the theatre space from the Wave to The Carlton with the aspiration to drive more evening economy along Senhouse Street.
- It also houses accommodation for shared working and small private rentable workshops and or offices. Unlike the event space formed within Empire Yard which is focused at food and drink the rentable space and ground floor event space is focused toward the arts and crafts movement in support of the work by local artist and the Settlement.
- Demolition of the neighbouring property is proposed to form level access, a courtyard and new build to accommodate further theatre and event space requirements.
Proposed plans for Christ Church
- A landmark and well-loved property within Maryport, Christ Church has been vacant for some time.
- The proposal looks to bring this building back into public use by converting the church into a museum and gallery space.
- The proposal includes the introduction of a mezzanine floor to increase floor area and a viewing platform over the Solway Coast.
Plans for The Wave Centre
- A relatively modern building within Maryport, The Wave is an underperforming leisure facility within the town.
- The proposal reconfigures the wave and removes the performance space which is then relocated to The Carlton. It introduces a new swimming pool in it’s place.
Aspirations for a swimming pool have been widely voiced by the residents of Maryport and the proposal for the Wave looks to build on the existing infrastructure to bring this offer back to the town.
History of the regeneration scheme
Our plans have developed over a number of months. Below is a record of information previously uploaded to this page.
News updates
- May 2021 - confirmation that our submission has been successful and £11.5m awarded to the scheme.
- December 2020 - our initial bid had been successful and we have been provisionally awarded £11.5m from the government. We're working up a final submission and hope this will be agreed and work can start as soon as possible.
- August 2020 - we announce we've been successful in our bid to the Heritage Action Zone funding, bringing £1.2m into Maryport
- July 2020 - the final business case was submitted to the government. An announcement on successful schemes is expected in the autumn.
- June 2020 - second stage of consultation on the plans took place giving residents, visitors and partners more details about the proposals. This was conducted virutally due to the restrictions in place because of Covid-19.
- February 2020 - consultation events in Maryport to get the opinions of local residents, businesses and groups. Thanks to everyone who took the time to come and meet us. Download the Future High Street Fund boards (large file) 14.4 MB
- January 2020 - consultants Buttress are working with us on devising exciting new schemes for the town.
- September 2019 - Our bid to the Heritage Action Zone pot of money was successful and we'll start working with Heritage England on our plans to improve the heritage assets in the town.
- August 2019 - It was announced that our bid to the High Street Fund had been successful and we were through to the next round. We'll be working with the government to develop the plans.
Our plans for Maryport
Maryport is an ancient harbour town founded by the Roman Army on the Solway Estuary, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. This compact attractive Georgian town went into economic decline in the 1930’s and has never fully recovered. The town has some deep seated socio-economic issues that have hardened as competitor locations have become more attractive.
The plan sets out deliverable priority projects to improve the quality of place. It also sets out strategic projects and opportunities that can address underlying issues that must be influenced if the town is to become truly successful.
Read the Maryport regeneration plan
Click on the centre circle to read the report in full screen
Download the Maryport Regeneration Delivery Plan (v2) 69.1 MBPriority projects
The creation of an annual series of events would bring life and vitality to the town and whilst they are focused at local people, they would also attract visitors from neighbouring districts and further afield.
The Promenade and the local area was also a theme that arose in each session, and indeed was identified in the original spatial analysis of the town. The Solway Coast is seen as one of the benefits for the town's location and attractiveness.
This also links to many of the health and wellbeing issues that are prevalent in Maryport, and is therefore considered to also be a high priority, with different levels of intervention which will help in its delivery and funding.
This public realm based project is more about capturing the attention of drivers that do pass by on this primary route, encouraging them to visit the town, and more importantly to create a more attractive and safe pedestrian environment that would help to overcome one of the key ‘separators’ in the town linking the railway station and its improved services, the new Hub and residential areas beyond.
The Harbour area has tremendous potential especially with the ease and potential of temporary buildings in this area. This Harbour also accommodates the main attractions of The Wave Centre and the aquarium which could be improved to create an area of wider appeal and interest to local residents and longer term, drawing in more spend and higher footfall, hence its inclusion in the ‘Top 5’.
The strengths of the historic character of the town and its feeling of community and the opportunities of heritage-led regeneration, positive re-use of vacant units and shop front improvements, enterprise and entrepreneurship and support of business growth, will all support the intervention to re-energise Senhouse Street. It will be a catalytic project for the rest of the town centre core to follow.
Projects to influence
Education has been a theme running throughout discussions and indeed is a key tool in a successful future for Maryport. Primary schools continue to achieve good standards and Netherhall School has recently received a ‘good’ rating, having been ‘transformed in a remarkably short period of time’1 . This improvement will help to encourage more parents to actively seek to live within the catchment, increasing housing demand with knock on impacts of increasing housing development and the widening of the socio-economic make-up of the town.
In parallel with improving education standards, understanding barriers to housing development will be key to working with housing developers to get them on site. Whilst the Council can assist by being ‘open for business’ and work to make the planning system as straightforward as possible, they cannot force developers to proceed with their schemes, but can work with them to encourage and influence that aim. Equally, working with housing providers to improve existing stock will be key in contributing to improved liveability.
The development of The Hub should increase patronage on the rail line but the poor quality of service and facilities was a consistent issue amongst stakeholders. There is potential to work with Network Rail and Northern Rail to influence physical investment in the station and improvements to local services, both of which will be important to maximise the benefits of the station to the town. The town should benefit from the potential of The Hub, attracting commuters to employment locations including Carlisle, Whitehaven and Sellafield, all of which are easily accessible by rail.
Maryport has a wealth of history to draw upon to create a new level of interest. In particular, its Roman roots as displayed in the Senhouse Museum and the archaeological potential of its surroundings, its shipping history, Camp Farm and Georgian architecture. Working with the relevant partners , including North of England Civic Trust to reveal the town’s heritage assets in the context of wider regeneration.
This project is to commit to the potential of the Tidal Lagoon in principle and become influential in its progression. This would involve discussions with key partners at local, regional and national levels, including landowners, regulators and environmental groups to understand the potential benefits, impacts and mitigation measures.
Timescales
There is a phased timetable for the projects with many able to begin immediately, whilst others require significant capital investment and preparatory work to get under way. However it is hoped all of the improvements will be in place within the next decade.
