Court Square revamp heads Cumberland agenda
The key arrival point from Carlisle railway station is lined up for a £27m redevelopment designed by BDP. Projects in Workington and at Kingmoor are also on a packed docket facing members next week.
Station Gateway/Court Square
Public realm enhancements, road reconfiguration, pedestrianisation and the relocation of Lawson’s Monument back to a prominent city centre position are on the cards in Carlisle.
Court Square is located to the north of Carlisle railway station – also known as Carlisle Citadel – anchoring the southern end of the city centre. Scheme promoters wish to see the space less vehicle-dominated, with cars shifted to a new car park at George Square.
Plans are also in the works for a ‘southern gateway’ at the station, which includes the redevelopment of Station Road Business Park.
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The Court Square site boundary includes the existing station-front parking area, Carlisle Station Hotel, Costa and the Griffin pub, along with Court Square Brow, Collier Lane and its associated car park, in addition to parts of Botchergate, The Crescent and English Street.
As set out in the officer report, “the vast majority of vehicles would be removed from the southern portion of Court Square, creating an attractive high quality space prioritised for pedestrians and cyclists.
“Vehicle access into Court Square would be strictly controlled by a mix of seating and bollards and would be restricted to emergency service and maintenance activities only.”
The view that will greet visitors exiting the station. Credit: planning documents
Furthermore, said the report, local stone will be used: “The area would be paved in natural stone to reflect the significance of the space and architectural heritage of the buildings that surround it.
“Feature paving bands in local Lazonby red sandstone from the station entrance would lead people directly to a new crossing point located on Court Brow and towards the city centre. The space would incorporate benches and tree planting in order to provide passengers with a pleasant outdoor waiting area.”
WSP is also advising. As landowner of a significant part of the site, Network Rail is also heavily involved, although the council itself is the applicant. Story will be the main contractor.
Port of Workington remediation ramped up
The council itself is the applicant for a remediation project at Oldside, a former iron and steel works to the north of the Port of Workington.
The 25-acre site is a neighbour to Workington’s speedway arena, and the plan long-term is for a clean energy and logistics hub, for which £4.5m has been secured through the Workington Town Deal. It is envisaged that the development would provide an inward vestment tool for Workington.
BSW asks for rail access
Also recommended for approval is a new railhead, with 110,000 sq ft of warehousing across three units, 108,000 sq ft of open storage space and up to 23,600 sq ft of offices. The development site is on the other aide of the west coast mainline from Kingmoor Park.
The applicant is timber group BSW, which is looking to bring railway access to its site, with up to six trains per day accessing the site by year three of operations. Tetra Tech is advising.
The site, close to Cargo village, is made up of two adjacent land parcels, amounting to 15.5 acres, currently undeveloped fields. The northern part immediately neighbours the existing 37-acre BSW sawmill, while the north-eastern boundary of the southern parcel abuts the railway.
Network Rail’s Kingmoor marshalling yard sits on the opposite side of the mainline.
Leisure centre cued up
Cumberland Council is also the applicant on a project to deliver a community leisure centre at the Millom School site.
The leisure centre would replace the school’s own now-demolished pool, in a project that would involve the removal of some outbuildings. Maryport firm Thomas Armstrong is lined up to deliver the £11m Towns Fund-backed project.
Approval is recommended, pending agreement with Sport England on revised BNG proposals, and an agreement with the highways authority.
The planning committee meets on Wednesday 19 February.
Planning references:
- Carlisle Station Gateway; 24/0650 (Carlisle)
- Oldside: FUL/2024/0160 (Allerdale)
- New railhead at Cargo: 24/0091 (Carlisle)
- Millom leisure centre: 4/24/2355/0F1 (Copeland and Millom)
