A £500,000 grant to progress the plans of a sports village in West Cumbria has been agreed by councillors.
Cumberland Sports Village is set to be created on the land currently occupied by Workington Reds and would become the home for the football side and the town’s rugby club.
A community pitch would also be part of the plans, which were lodged with Cumberland Council in September and have yet to be approved.
Members of Cumberland Council’s executive met today and agreed to approve the £500,000 grant to Cumberland Sports Village Ltd to provide the design for the facility.
They also agreed to surrender the leases for Borough Park from Workington Reds and Derwent Park from Workington Town to enable the delivery of the project and start consultation into the appropriation of the car park and open space between Borough Park and Workington Leisure Centre for the community pitch.
The business case for the project was approved by the then Allerdale council in March 2022.
The project would be carried out in two phases.
Phase 1 would deliver a multi-purpose stadium with a capacity of 3,700 spectators alongside a new 3G pitch for community use. Phase 2 would expand capacity to 5,000.
In an assessment of the its value for money, it said initially, it was anticipated that the facility would require seven full-time and 14 part-time positions.
As the stadium develops expands its offer it is expected that additional roles will be created. By 2030, total employment could rise to around 35 positions -10 full-time and 25 part-time roles.
It estimated it would generate GVA – an economic measure of the value of services and its contribution to the overall econoy – of around £830,000 a year.
It said the 3G community pitch at the Cumberland Sports Village would play a vital role in supporting grassroots sport and expanding access to regular physical activity, and it estimated that the stadium would accommodate 76 matches a year. It added: “High level estimates suggest attendance at matches could increase to
100,000 per annum by year five.”
What will Cumberland Sports Village look like?
West Stand (Main Stand)
The existing stand will be demolished and replaced with a new main stand building which will provide greatly improved club facilities featuring:
- Spectator seating for up to 1,000 people, with a good provision of wheelchair viewing spaces.
- A large first floor function suite with lift access and a seating capacity of around 120.
- A series of executive boxes on the first floor, with floor to ceiling glass windows and dedicated terrace seats in a prime position.
- A sports bar and an external fan zone at ground level and internal concourse.
The main stand will also include:
- Administrative space for both clubs, a main reception, press/media suite and a match day control room.
- Four new changing room spaces for clubs, officials, and community groups alongside all the necessary supporting facilities such as WCs, medical room and laundry/kit facilities.
North Stand Terrace
The existing uncovered terracing will be demolished and replaced with an uncovered terrace for around 700 spectators. This will be located further north by around nine metres to allow for the expansion of the playing area and future development.
East Stand
The existing east stand (the Popular Side) will be demolished and replaced with a new covered spectator standing terrace to accommodate around 1,000 spectators. This will be positioned further to the east than the existing stand by 7m to allow for the expansion of the playing surface and expansion of the main stand.
South Stand
The existing south stand (the Town End) will be demolished and replaced with a new covered spectator standing terrace to accommodate around 1,000 spectators.
The pitch
The existing turf pitch will be replaced with a 3G pitch suitable for both football and rugby use.
A community pitch, from the Football Foundation, will be created on the Allerdale House car park.
Impacted areas to all stands around the pitch will be made good and provided with suitable new run-off areas, pitch perimeter fencing and compliant access to meet all building and stadia guidance. New turnstiles and boundary fencing will be provided.
New floodlighting around the pitch will be configured as required in accordance with ground grading requirements.
External access and parking around the main building has been adjusted to suit to proposed layout with the existing highways layout largely being kept.
