By Julian Whittle

Published at 14:55, Friday, 08 March 2013

The chances of an out-of-town shopping complex being built at Kingmoor Park, to the north of Carlisle, appear to be getting ever smaller.

Tony Goddard

Carlisle United and Kingmoor Park Properties came up with the scheme as a way of providing a new ground for the football club.

The idea was that an ‘enabling development’ – almost certainly a retail park – would cover much of the costs of a 12,000-capacity all-seater stadium.

The proposal suffered a blow when consultants commissioned by the city council said there was too little demand in Carlisle for new retail floorspace to justify a large out-of-town shopping centre.

And it emerged this week that United is now looking at redeveloping its Brunton Park ground as an alternative.

Tony Goddard, managing director of Kingmoor Park Properties, said the shopping complex proposal had stalled.

He added: “I have no meetings planned or ongoing with the council.

“We are looking to do other things at Kingmoor Park. The areas we had earmarked for retail are still there but there are options as to what we do with them.”

Mr Goddard said that the opening of the Carlisle Northern Development Route last year had boosted demand for warehousing space. The new road passes through Kingmoor Park.

“Last year we did 110,000sq ft [of warehousing] for a company from Derby and we have other deals in the pipeline,” Mr Goddard said.

“We are still talking to the football club and I think if they had the money they would come to Kingmoor Park.

“But they don’t have the money so they are looking at alternatives.

“Their fall-back position has to be where they are now.”

United’s managing director John Nixon said the club is again looking seriously at staying at Brunton Park, although the new-stadium scheme, Project Blue Yonder, was “a long way short of being dead”.

He also revealed that United is in talks with two parties over its future home.

One backed the move to Kingmoor Park, the other wanted to stay put.

The club previously put the cost of a full revamp of Brunton Park at £18m to £20m.

Any plan to remain at the stadium would have to be “imaginative”, such as sharing it with someone else.

He added: “It is an option but probably the most difficult one we have.”

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