By Alan Irving

Published at 11:11, Thursday, 26 April 2012

TWO pieces of land are to be sold by Copeland Council for £1 apiece to help pave the way for Whitehaven’s £20 million Albion Square office development.

demolition work: The site of the development

One parcel is currently valued at up to £110,000 and the other, immediately next to the Dusty Miller public house, up to £25,000. But as both sections were purchased with grants the council is prepared to sell to Energy Coast West Cumbria for the nominal £1 each.

The grants for Copeland Council to acquire the land in the first place were made by West Lakes Renaissance, now part of the Britain’s Energy Coast organisation.

Copeland’s Executive agreed to the £1 sales at its meeting on Tuesday night subject to the grant money not being clawed back.

Albion Square is one of the priority Energy Coast regeneration schemes and has the council’s full backing.

Land was recently acquired, from Hanratty’s scrap metal yard and G&A Motors, on which to build the four-storey office complex designed to accommodate around 900 Sellafield workers who will be moved from the nuclear site.

Site clearance and demolition work is under way for the development. It took a major step forward recently when The Treasury concluded that Albion Square provided value for money.

It is hoped the Big Office can be ready by late 2013 but at the moment a private sector developer is being sought.

A third tract of land which has been owned by the council for many years is also to be sold to Energy Coast West Cumbria, for £43,000 – its proper value as no grant has been involved.

Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk