Views of more than 100 people were given at two drop-in sessions in Cleator Moor to outline the possible designs for a new business campus in the town.
The Cleator Moor Innovation Quarter is a long term plan that will include a central hub at Leconfield Industrial Estate which houses research, education and community facilities and aims to bring prosperity to the area by creating job opportunities for local people, helping local businesses grow, and acting as a catalyst for further investment.
It is part of a vision for Copeland and the wider region known as the Industrial Solutions Hub (ISH) which will support businesses to diversify and adapt beyond the nuclear sector, creating employment opportunities and boosting the Cumbrian economy.
Copeland Borough Council, with support from the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership, purchased the land at Leconfield earlier this year. This pre-planning consultation was aimed at collating the opinions of those living and working locally.
John Maddison, programme director for the Industrial Solutions Hub (ISH) whose plans include developing the Leconfield site, said: “Creating employment opportunities for local people, helping local businesses grow, and supporting the local community are at the heart of what ISH is aiming to achieve in Cleator Moor and across West Cumbria with a development of regional, national and international significance.
“It was really helpful to be able to meet local residents face to face, listen to their views and to share first-hand the facts about our plans. We look forward to being able to communicate further with the community over the coming weeks.”
The initial funding for the ambitious project will come from the Cleator Moor Towns Fund, which secured an offer of £22.5m from Government in July for five different projects that will help the area and its communities to thrive for years to come.
One of these projects is Enterprising Town – a £7 million scheme to provide investment and new facilities at the Leconfield Estate in order to harness new employment opportunities for the community and to attract further investment and skills to the area.
Bob Metcalfe, chair of the Cleator Moor Town Deal board, said: “The Town Fund project is centered solely on the existing Leconfield site where funding offered by the Government would be used to create a new, flexible hub and commercial building space as well as site improvements and landscaping, benefiting both the community and estate tenants through the longer term development of skills and business support.
“Securing an offer of regeneration funding from Government is a real achievement. As a board, we want to make sure the community understands what this Town Deal project is about, how they can support it and how it fits into the wider plan brought forward in this consultation by the council.”
The online survey for those who couldn’t make the drop-in sessions is available until December 3 at www.copeland.gov.uk/cmiq
