A NEW £23.1million Town Deal is now one step closer to going ahead after the government announced they had approved funding for the project.

But what will the plans look like when they are finally finished? The plans are a major package of improvements and initiatives for Workington with the creation of new sports facilities for the town's sports clubs, as well as a remediation of the Port of Workington.

We have simplified what the Town Deal will mean for the county with five key projects for Workington.

A community sports and leisure facility in the lower Derwent Park Valley

This project will see new facilities for Workington Reds football club and the town’s rugby league club, Workington Town, on the site of the current Borough Park, as well as community facilities nearby.

The project will take place over a number of phases, with the initial phase seeing around £5million from the Town Deal, and a further £1million from Allerdale Borough Council, providing a new grandstand and accompanying facilities and an all-weather pitch on the footprint of Borough Park.

Subsequent phases would see the construction of further covered terracing.

Alongside the stadium project are plans to provide a 3G community pitch on Lonsdale Park adjacent to the new stadium facilities. Discussions are underway for further funding for these facilities.

The intial investment will come from the town deal, and the project team says it is already in constructive talks with potential funders for this second phase.

Digital Accelerator Scheme

The Digital Accelerator scheme provides advanced digital and IT training to local people to meet the demands of specialist local nuclear, defence maritime and advanced engineering sectors for highly skilled workers. The proposal is to base the accelerator at Lakes College.

New flexible office accommodation

The are also plans to create an Innovation Centre in the town. The plans would see 'attractive, high quality, flexible' workshop and office space, with conference facilities built on what is now the town’s central car park. There is a shortage of good office space in the centre of Workington, and the Innovation Centre will accommodate innovative start-ups from the local area, workers from the knowledge economy, as well as a small number of anchor tenants who are likely to be associated with the nuclear supply chain.

Townscape improvements   

Workington will also see improvements to the streets in the town centre. Plans include revamped connections from the railway station to the centre of town, as well as improvements to key locations such as Murray Road and Central Way. Better seating, lighting and safer pedestrian and cycle routes are also all part of the plans.

Remediation work at the Port of Workington

The Port of Workington is a key transport hub with good road and rail links. However, historical land contamination issues, has hampered the port’s ability to grow and develop. Therefore, plans also include a scheme to remediate more than eight hectares of land within, and next to, the port. This would allow these areas to be ready for future development with the potential to support the clean energy and logistics sector.

READ MORE: The Workington Town Deal - 'Aspirational project' or a 'poor relation' to ideas of the past?