At a meeting of the Executive yesterday (July 15) councillors decided to give authority to the Maryport project team to submit the business case to the Government’s Future High Streets Fund (FHSF).

If successful the scheme could result in a four-year programme of works up to a value of over £16.7m which would support the transformation of Maryport town centre. Various areas of the town would be improved, including revamping the Wave Centre, bringing The Carlton building back into use and converting Christ Chruch into museum/gallery space.

Should the funding bid be approved there would also be improvements made to the public realm areas of the town, such as widening footpaths and installing more seating areas, the creation of a space for a market and community activities and help to address the number of empty units in the town centre.

Cllr Mike Johnson, the Council’s Deputy Leader, moved the report and said:

“As I mentioned earlier in the meeting the Government is creating opportunities for areas such as ours to progress our economic ambitions. Maryport has been presented with this opportunity and I am excited by the shape our programme is taking and I hope that the people of Maryport are too.

“As a council we recognise the important role our towns play in the borough’s economy and it is vitally important that we ensure they are places that people want to visit even as the nature of the high street changes. I am hugely excited by this opportunity for Maryport and I would like to thank the team for their hard work in getting us to this point.”

The business case, which has been drawn up with support from consultants Buttress, will be submitted to the Government before the end of the month with an announcement on the successful schemes expected before the end of the year.

The formation of the final business case was done following extensive consultation exercises this year which demonstrated a large amount of public support for the proposals.

To find out more about the proposals, go to: https://www.allerdale.gov.uk/en/maryport/.