Council services will be available from a new location in Kendal later this month.
County Hall will close at the end of the month and Westmorland & Furness Council will move into South Lakeland House, at the front of Kendal Town Hall.
Work is being finalised to accommodate some services which currently operate from County Hall, at the new location on Lowther Street.
The council’s cabinet agreed in June to invest in Kendal Town Hall as its main Kendal base and close County Hall, subject to a further review for any alternative future use.
Since then, internal work has been ongoing to relocate services and around 50 staff based at County Hall.
Most services currently based at County Hall will move to South Lakeland House with an interim solution being in place for the archives service while a longer-term review is carried out.
Staff will continue to care for and manage archive collections held at County Hall.
Public access will be facilitated at Kendal Library. Access will continue to be by appointment to reserve a space and request documents in advance. A facility for visitors to the Historic Environment Record will also be available at South Lakeland House by appointment.
Working with communities and The National Archives, a feasibility study and engagement will be undertaken to address the longer-term options for providing an Archive Service in Kendal.
Plans have already been put in place to ensure there will be no disruption to wedding plans. The town hall is a licensed weddings venue and available for bookings.
The register office will relocate to Kendal Town Hall from Monday September 30.
Registration offices at County Hall will be closed on Thursday September 26 and Friday September 27. Ceremonies booked for County Hall on September 27 will go ahead as planned.
The registration offices in Barrow and Penrith Offices will remain open as usual to cause as little disruption as possible.
Contact can still be made via email [email protected] or to the council’s customer service centre by phone on 0300 373 3300.
Other teams that will be moving to South Lakeland House by the end of the month include trading standards, highways, community development, cultural services, development control, environment and sustainability, ICT and business support.
The building can be accessed from the one stop shop at the front of Kendal Town Hall. This replaces the previous entrance at the bottom of the yard.
Access to the public car park at County Hall will continue.
