The Cumberland Sports Village project has taken some major steps over the last four months with a view for an early 2024 planning permission submission.

A significant amount of progress has been made working with Cumberland Council, Workington Reds and Workington Town RLFC and as a result Cumberland Sports Village Ltd has now been established.

This is a not for profit, limited by guarantee company, which will be responsible for the development of the facilities and once complete, their ongoing operation.

In order to assist the company during the development phase the Allerdale Investment Partnership have agreed to provide access to working capital of up to £30,000 to fund its on-going operational requirements.

The supplementary work requested by Cumberland Council in support of the Towns Fund grant and the grant provided by themselves has now been completed and submitted.

When approved this will allow an initial tranche of funding to be drawn down to enable the completion of the stadium designs and the preparation and submission of the planning application for the development.

A local firm of Architects, The Manning Elliott Partnership, have been asked to undertake the design work for the stadium to enable a planning application to be submitted during the first half of next year.

At its heart the new stadium will provide a wide range of facilities for the community, and whilst preparatory discussions have already taken place with both Workington Reds and with Workington Town to capture their requirements, a series of drop-in sessions will be announced in the new year to allow the local community to view the draft designs and provide their feedback

As part of the initial bid submission a series of draft designs for the stadium have been further developed.

These designs are conceptual but have been produced to illustrate what the final development might look like.

Positive discussions with representatives of the Football Foundation are ongoing with regards to the potential all weather community pitch, with significant additional funding available to enable completion of this part of the project.