THE future of a small town is looking bright after plans to regenerate Millom park were given the green light. 

Millom Town Council approved plans to make vital improvements to the park when councillors met for their monthly meeting earlier this week. 

The park is set to undergo a major revamp that will include a pop-up putting green and the refurbishment of the tennis courts. 

Denise Burness, mayor of Millom, is excited by the scheme and hopes it will be the start of a bright future for the town. 

She said: "I'm all for it because the more facilities we can provide the better really because we need to provide things for you people and it helps with the community spirit of the town. 

"A lot of people bemoan the fact we no longer have our putting green so this is a great step forward."

David Ward, who is responsible for the pop-up putting green, was delighted to be accepted.

He said: "I'm really pleased to have the backing of the council and the really great thing is that it's for families of all ages. 

"It can be played by kids, parents and grandparents so it's for everyone."

In addition to welcoming the pop-up putting green, the park will also see the resurfacing of its old tennis courts - a popular project that has been three years in the making. 

Millom resident, Dave Billing, formed a business plan for the scheme and enlisted the support of the town council. 

For the past few years he has been working with different community groups to raise funds for the project which will start to be rolled out in the coming weeks. 

The regeneration of the park is all part of councillors' plans to bring an economic boost to Millom in the wake of the £10bn investment project at Moorside. 

Cllr Burness, who is also a borough councillor for Copeland, explained that these small but welcome changes play a big part in the future of the town councillors work together to ensure residents see some benefits from the nuclear power station. 

She said: "We're trying to regenerate the park as much as we can. There used to be an old tennis court but it was in a bad way. 

"It's very important to support these projects because there's an awful lot of pride in Millom because it is a town that has become self-sufficient because we have been overlooked at times. 

"We don't get any investment unless we fight for it and that's what we do as borough councillors.

"It all comes back to the regeneration of Millom and making it more attractive so we can encourage more investment."