Maryport has lodged a bid for over £12 million to transform its image as a visitor destination.

The development plan, which includes Maryport, Flimby and Allonby, has been drawn up to improve the area, increase tourism, encourage business development and provide more jobs.

It has been produced by consultants Bowles Green after discussions local businesses and organisations, led by the Love Maryport Town Team, as part of a bid for part of the Government’s £90m Coastal Revival Fund.

Priority projects include creating a series of new events that could include arts, Roman, maritime and seafood festivasl, a permanent events venue and redeveloping Allonby's playground.

Longer term schemes would see trails based around the life and works of artist Percy Kelly and an art gallery which could involve using the artist’s old home in Allonby, redeveloping the old toilet block on the Maryport Promenade as a cafe and further improvements to that area.

It is estimated that the Percy Kelly gallery could cost up to £2m and the events venue £500,000.

There are also plans to spend a further £6million on renovating the Promenade, £2m on Elizabeth Dock improvements and £1m on restoring a train turnstile. 

The group has also singled out issues in the town that need improving, such as the poor condition of buildings, unused buildings and the need for more accommodation.

Some coastal funding has already been allocated to Maryport after the Love Maryport coastal team supported a successful bid for £50 million to allow the North England Civic Trust to begin repairs to historic buildings at Camp Farm.

At a meeting last week, the Love Maryport coastal team voted not to be included in the Solway brand used by Silloth.

Members agreed that "West Cumbrian Coast" better reflected who and where Maryport was.

Debbie Wright, coastal team chairwoman, said: "We need a really good events programme to get people in and keep it interesting for people.

"We want to bring people into Maryport to improve the area and make it more enjoyable for the people here.

"It would be amazing if we could get funding for everything, but it would be good to be able to start with a few things."

Toni Magean, town manager, said part of the conditions of the bid were that it was widely publicised.

He added: "The bid went in last week. Between now and the end of March we need to hold some workshops to get more people onto the team and to explain the bid."

However, Maryport Town Council has criticised the bid for being "too generic" and for leaving out any mention of the area’s flora and fauna or Maryport's coke ovens, an ancient monument.