West Lakes URC reports solid year progressing key sites
West Lakes Renaissance, the urban regeneration company for Furness and West Cumbria, today said it spent £29m in the past financial year progressing schemes including The Waterfront in Barrow-in-Furness.
In total £10.5m was spent on The Waterfront, where work started on Ramsden Business Park and the 650-home Marina Village was marketed to developers.
Other significant projects funded during the period include:
- Start on site at Energus, formerly the Nuclear Academy
- New factory for the Cumberland Pencil Company at Lillyhall Business Park
- Upgrade of The Beacon tourist attraction in Whitehaven
- New community resource centre for Egremont
- Preparatory work for the Workington Transport Interchange and the former BIP Factory at Maryport.
- Improvements to the Port of Workington, Maryport Marina and Harrington Harbour
Of the total £29.2m invested; £20.7m came from the North West Development Agency; £3m from the European Regional Development Fund and £5.5m the Department of Communities and Local Government (CLG) under the Housing Market Renewal programme.
Bob Pointing, chief executive of West Lakes Renaissance, said: "It has been yet another busy and exciting year for West Lakes Renaissance. Most significant is that people are starting to see results on the ground – with work starting on The Waterfront Barrow-in-Furness after years of preparation and planning; and work also starting on the training and skills facility Energus, a pivotal part of the Britain's Energy CoastTM vision."
West Lakes Renaissance was established in 2003 to coordinate regeneration across an 80-mile patch stretching from Morecambe Bay in the south to Solway Firth in the north – the largest and most complex patch covered by any of the other 21 urban regeneration companies currently in existence.
