Developers behind a new housing estate due to be built in Workington want to make it bigger.

The redevelopment of land located off Curwen Road was approved by Allerdale Borough Council in 2016, but developers, Atkinson Building Contractors Ltd, are now seeking to adapt the plans to add more properties.

In the latest plans, the applicant stated that the density of the site, previously 94 units had increased to 107 due to the “change in user group and building type, with a main building forming the predominant structure on the site including 79 units”.

The development is focused around a three-storey hub building with 24, one-bedroomed apartments and 55, two-bedroomed apartments.

Within this building will be communal facilities, including lounges and staff support areas.

In order to fit in with Local and National Planning Policy, the development will provide 28, two-bedroomed bungalows, as semi-detached or terraced properties with private parking and gardens.

The developers said that the redevelopment of the site would prove to be of vast benefit to the community.

They asserted: “The connectivity through the site is important to improve pedestrian flows and this is a significant benefit to the locality.

“The application sits within current Local and National Planning Policy and being offered as 100 per cent affordable rented units will provide significant contribution to the local housing need.

“The site was the location of former terraced housing and this was demolished over 30 years. Since this time the site has laid dormant and in general become an eyesore. Services under the site remain in line with the original street pattern and this includes electricity and drainage infrastructure.

They added: “The site has over recent times been a magnet for the travelling community accessing the now defunct Solway Street turning head and latterly the site itself. The site owner has worked with councillors and Allerdale to secure the site now with a perimeter soil bund to prevent further access.

“This planning application will see finally a future secured for the site and a significant redevelopment opportunity for this coastal access point of Workington.”

You can view this planning application in more detail at allerdale.gov.uk, use ref: FUL/2021/0166.