Strides made in creation of Carlisle's new University of Cumbria campus

The redevelopment of the Citadel buildings will create a new University of Cumbria campus with £50 million in funding from the Borderland Inclusive Growth Deal.

The campus is just a stone’s throw from another iconic location set for a facelift. Carlisle Citadel Railway Station will also see a regeneration, thanks to £20 million from the growth deal.

Leader of Cumbria County Council Stewart Young said: “It’s great to see this key project take another step forward.

“Taken together with plans for Carlisle Station, the investment of over £70 million by the Borderlands Partnership will help secure the future of the University in the county, and will underpin the economic recovery of the city centre.”

An application submitted to the city council for approval on Monday will see the change of use of the Citadels which comprise The Crown Court, Nisi Prius and Hospital Wing.

It is also proposed that the new campus incorporates 94-96 English Street, known locally as the Woolworths building, 98-104 English Street and 185 Victoria Viaduct.

As well as remodelling the buildings for higher education use, plans will create a café in the ground floor of the extended Woolworths building and a new accessible public realm/civil space.

CGI images illustrating how the campus could look have been revealed this week.

The designs, produced by  DAY Architectural Limited show that the iconic Grade I listed rotundas will be retained in the new campus.

Mayor of Carlisle Pamela Birks welcomed the next step in the city’s regeneration.

She said: “I think it’s good just that we’re actually going to be doing something with the Citadel buildings otherwise they’ll just stand there and rot away.

“Anything that makes sure they’re going to be used without detriment to them is the best option rather than standing empty.

“Anything that’s going to regenerate the city is going to help it.”

She said that a new and improved University of Cumbria will “bring young people to the city and make us, hopefully, a leading university campus that people want to come to going forward.”

University of Cumbria, Vice Chancellor, Professor Julie Mennell said: “The submission of the planning application takes us another step closer to realising our ambition to develop a new university campus in the heart of the city.

“A truly transformational project, the new Citadels campus will increase the accessibility, reach and impact of our academic offer.

Carlisle MP John Stevenson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the Borderlands Deal is “genuinely transformational.”

“This is one of the leading developments in the Borderlands programme.

“It also redevelops a part of the city that’s in need of some investment.”

Speaking after plans were officially submitted for the redevelopment of the Citadels, he said: “This is fantastic news, the Borderlands Growth Initiative is hugely important to the region.

“There’s been a lot of work done on the Borderlands and this is starting to come to fruition now. Plans like this do bring it to life.”

A joint announcement from the University of Cumbria and the Imperial College London followed yesterday, revealing plans for a new medical school in Carlisle.

The aim is for the new graduate entry medical school to being enrolment of its first students in autumn 2025.

It will train new doctors for Cumbria and North West England.

Mr Stevenson said: “The announcement about the medical college in Carlisle I think is fantastic news.

“It raises the profile of the university, its massively important for local health provision in Carlisle and the surrounding area.

“It’s a significant decision which is going to be really beneficial.”

It was reported in March that GPs in the region are victims of a “post-code lottery” with huge differences in the number of patients some practices have to deal with in comparison to others.

Hospitals are also under pressure due to an issue known as “bed blocking” where patients ready to go home cannot be discharged as their homes do not have suitable disabled facilities to allow them to live independently.

The situation is so accute that councils have been tasked with handing out Disabled Facilities Grants to help make homes suitable so that patients can be discharged.

It is hoped that training doctors within Cumbria will benefit the local health and social care economy with a sustainable supply of medical professionals.

Rail minister Wendy Morton MP visited Carlisle on Wednesday to see plans for Carlisle Station Gateway Project, a £20 million revamp of the train station under the Borderlands funding.

Mrs Morton was welcomed to the station by Mr Stevenson and representatives of Network Rail and Avanti West Coast.

Plans for essential works supporting the redevelopment were submitted to the city council in March.

Cumbria County Council submitted an application to demolish the former Staples store making space for a new car park.

Access to the other existing stores on James Street will remain until the lease is up on the Matalan store.

The Matalan store will then be demolished when the lease runs out in October 2025.

The redevelopment of Carlisle’s train station is designed to make it a key point in the nation’s railway infrastructure.