Work begins on £3.5m former police station redevelopment

Work has begun on the £3.5m redevelopment of a grand former police station over two years after planning permission was granted.

Plans to turn the former Ulverston police station and courthouse into office space, retail units and ’boutique’ accommodation were approved by Westmorland and Furness Council in 2023.

Now, two and a half years on, construction work on the scheme has begun, according to developer Building Design Northern (BDN)

This comes after members of the public noticed scaffolding had been put up on the old police station building.

BDN said it ‘is expected’ that full works will be completed ‘by 2028’.

Phase one of the scheme will be to convert the police station into offices for the firm, which currently works from another office in Ulverston, as well as nine ‘luxury apartments’ for ‘short stays’ made from the jail cells.

The second phase will see the transformation of the former courthouse and its surrounding courtyard of former garages, which will be converted into a ‘restaurant pavilion’ with a range of retail businesses, as well as other short stay apartments in the upper floors.

Planning consent is also in place for three houses to stand within the grounds.

Director Joe Warner, who is from Barrow, said: “Our MD at BDN is from Sunderland, and has delivered a number of really transformative projects in his home city.

“I know how much pride that has brought him. So, for me to be able to do the same in Ulverston, and for the business to acquire a building that has stood in a state of disrepair for so long, and to now be breathing new life into it, is absolutely brilliant.

“This was once such a stunning building, and – given its position on the edge of the town providing a distinctive welcome point for people coming into the area – it’s been sad to see it in such a sorry state, becoming a magnet for anti-social behaviour. I’m looking forward to bringing it back into contemporary use.”

This comes as the council decides on an application for the approval of details in relation to the scheme regarding noise and landscaping.

In it, BDN submitted an environmental noise survey and a noise impact assessment report.

The council’s neighbourhood services reviewed the firm’s noise assessment report and said it had ‘adequately’ assessed the current noise environment.

The officer said the development meets the noise criteria set out.

The council’s arboriculturist said no trees or tree roots would be impeded by the development, other than ‘small areas of self seeded trees’.

He said the removal of such trees would facilitate the development and that the department was ‘happy with the conditions’.