A masterplan to guide the future development of the GSK site in Ulverston has been completed.
A council report says the plan seeks to establish a prosperous future for the site as a life sciences and advanced manufacturing park.
The report, produced ahead of a full meeting of South Lakeland District Council, says the masterplan is aiming to safeguard and create high-value employment in the area.
Barrow and Furness MP Simon Fell says the masterplan was the result of a collaboration between the council and the partnership GSK Taskforce. The taskforce is a working group led by Mr Fell.
He said the purpose of the masterplan was to present an exciting and dynamic vision of what could be achieved at the GSK site and the surrounding land in terms of regeneration, economic development and new housing.
“It is the template we’re using with government to drive interest there, and also with potential employers who can see the value of having a technology, advanced manufacturing and life sciences cluster in terms of employment and skills retention,” he said.
“It’s genuinely exciting to see what could be, and my hat goes off to the team at the council for all their hard work in getting this done.
“The job for the taskforce is now to deliver against these plans.”
In February of last year, it was announced that operations at the GSK site in Ulverston were to wind down over a number of years following the $350m sale of one of GSK’s divisions to pharmaceuticals company Sandoz.
Lord Walney, former Barrow and Furness MP and former leader of the GSK Taskforce, described the news as a devastating blow at the time.
“The GSK pharmaceutical industry has been the beating heart of the Ulverston economy for many, many decades,” he said.
“It’s an industry that’s of central economic importance to the whole wider area, sitting alongside the submarine programme in Barrow and civil nuclear further up the coast.
“To get news like this is cruel, particularly at a time when everyone is worried and uncertain and struggling.”
