Plans are in the pipeline to upgrade Kendal Town Hall.
Westmorland and Furness Council wants to upgrade reception and interview facilities.
Kendal Town Hall attracts a high level of people with enquiries about issues including housing, registration of births, marriages and deaths, revenue and benefits, planning, building control, licensing, as well as general visitors to events.
Planned updates include:
- Increasing accessibility for families with pushchairs and wheelchair users.
- Improved acoustics in the reception area.
- Creating a waiting space away from the main reception.
- Greater privacy for those using interview rooms.
- More desk workspace to support customer facing activities.
The council is now seeking permission to make the changes at the Grade ll-listed building in Highgate and has lodged a listed building application.
Council services previously housed at County Hall have now largely transferred to South Lakeland House. In the next-door Kendal Town Hall, the Romney Room has become the new Registration Service interview room.
The council said it was in discussion with community groups that may be affected by the changes at Kendal Town Hall.
Improvements are also planned at its building in Barrow.
The council is also seeking to improve facilities there, with internal changes to the ground floor of the Grade II-listed building to increase accessibility and make it a more welcoming space for visitors. That work would restore the public entrance and create a second reception area for housing inquiries, new interview rooms and toilet facilities.
In Penrith, services are now being delivered from Voreda House, which opened in the summer, and has replaced offices and reception areas at the town hall and Mansion House.
If permission is granted, further detailed design work would be carried out later in the year with physical work beginning in 2025.
