County backs vision for town's canal side A vision to transform Ulverston's canal side from a slightly ramshackle collection of crumbling edifices to an enviable gateway to Furness edged closer to reality this week.

Cumbria County Council's South Lakeland Local Area Committee stumped up £25,000 towards a £100,000 masterplan' that will investigate the feasibilty of a canal side revamp.

Ulverston's Market Towns Initiative is behind the master planning exercise. Once the plan has been put together by a consultancy firm, it could be used to draw down public funding and attract private investors to a redevelopment scheme.

Pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline, which has its factory at the end of the canal, has already backed the idea, offering 200 acres of its land in and around Ulverston's canal corridor for inclusion in the planning exercise.

The land includes the canal and surrounding farmland but not the factory site itself, the sports field or the slag bank.

In a statement GSK said: "GSK wishes to ensure the amenity and leisure use of the canal is maintained for the town. Any subsequent company decisions regarding the use of the GSK-owned land would be based on the recommendations made by the study whilst considering the needs of the local community."

At CCC's area committee meeting, Ulverston town and county councillor Wendy Kolbe urged members to back the plan.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that Glaxo have given us," she said. "I feel that at the moment it would be churlish not to give the £25,000."

Meanwhile, Coun Pauline Halfpenny pointed out that the stretch of canal was already well used by many hikers, cyclists and dog walkers and said that restoring the canal would provide both social and economic benefits.

Furness Enterprise industrial development manager Stuart Klosinski said the jobs creation agency was backing the scheme, and its chief executive Harry Knowles was on the board.

"The review and regeneration of the canal side area offers opportunities for a variety of mixed use development, from industry through to housing, hotels and leisure. The first stage of that is to promote this master plan that can act as a basis for securing funding to help the canal area link better with the town and reinforce it as a gateway to Furness."

Market Towns Officer Jayne Kendall said the plan would take account of Ulverston's recently closed abattoir which flanks the canal. The plan could consider the site for redevelopment or as an abattoir if it was taken over as a going concern.