A funding bid towards a major regeneration project for The Coro in Ulverston has been unsuccessful.

The bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) – for up to £3.5 million towards expanding The Coro’s role as a home for arts, culture and library and community services – hasn’t been approved by the NLHF Committee.

Westmorland and Furness Council led on the NLHF submission working alongside Ulverston community groups.

Cllr Helen Chaffey, Westmorland and Furness Council’s Cabinet member for Communities, Customer Services, Culture and Communications, said: “It was very disappointing news to hear that our National Lottery Heritage Fund bid hasn’t been successful.

“We had hoped a successful bid would have allowed us to press ahead with a more ambitious development.

“However, this doesn’t affect our commitment to The Coro and we will be mindful of the feedback we’ve already had from the community as we work on the next stage of drawing up the business case for development plans.

“This will look to build on recent investments and refurbishments at The Coro, which has already included bringing in a better sound system, improvements to the heating and hot water system, new low-carbon stage lighting and upgraded ceiling lights.’’

The NLHF bid was developed and refined through ‘visioning workshops’ and input from partners on a Community Working Group, including key community stakeholders such as Ulverston Town Council and representatives from local businesses and disability, community and arts and cultural organisations, to ensure the application could evidence strong community input and support.

An extensive community engagement saw hundreds of people share their views on what they’d like to see from a redevelopment of The Coro, providing feedback through on-line and paper surveys, events, activities and public meetings, all of which was used as crucial evidence for the funding bid.

Some of the more creative approaches included setting up a market stall in the town centre to gather views – with artist Mollie Ray depicting people’s ideas in a comic art display – parking a double decker bus bar outside The Coro to capture the opinions of people attending a sold-out comedy night, having a suggestions board in The Coro foyer and connecting with schools and youth and community groups, ranging from blood donors to a local food project.

In its feedback on the funding bid, the NLHF praised the Coro submission as a “a well-developed low risk project, based on some excellent community consultation.’’

It was explained that competition for NLHF funding was very high this year and that total bids into the fund ‘far exceeded the budget available’. It was noted that the Coro proposal was up against projects involving “heritage assets designated as nationally important that are at risk.’’

The feedback added: “Unfortunately, it came down to the perceived heritage importance/value of the building compared to other heritage assets it was competing against, although the Committee recognised the value of the associated intangible heritage (of The Coro).’’

Cllr Chaffey continued: “The decision came down to the NLHF’s assessment of the importance of the competing heritage buildings and clearly we have been up against some very tough competition.

“However, the outcome should not detract from the excellent work that went into preparing the bid, which was a real team effort. I’d like to thank everyone in the Ulverston community who really came together to help prepare this application alongside our council officers.

“We may not ultimately have secured the funding, but I do believe that by working together on this bid we now have a much better appreciation of what the community wants from The Coro and we can continue to have constructive dialogue as we move forward.’’

Westmorland and Furness Council will continue to engage with the community before the Council’s Cabinet considers the outcome of the NLHF bid and discusses next steps in the development process.