Plans to turn former New Road car park at Kendal into an events 'hub'

Board members believe that New Road has 'massive potential' to become an events hub which could pull in thousands of extra visitors and help boost the town's economy by millions.

One of the plans is to use the area as a venue for a park run where athletes would assemble after registering on Market Place before following a five kilometre route along the canal path from Gooseholme.

Brian Harrison, vice chair for Kendal BID, said that it was time to 'look forward' and take advantage of the 'unique and exciting' opportunity that New Road offered.

"BID are working hard at it. The riverside has massive potential," he said. "If it comes off it will be really something quite special and the riverside area gives us an opportunity to do things that were either prohibited because of traffic restrictions or the perception that it wasn't necessarily safe."

He envisaged that there could be events on 'every weekend', attracting both residents and tourists to spend both time and money in Kendal.

Other suggestions for the riverside include it:

* Becoming a festival venue

* Staging open air music concerts

* Hosting an art trail with sculptures along the riverside

* Putting on presentations and ceremonial events

* Having a cycle hire facility

South Lakeland District Council's (SLDC) bombshell announcement that free parking on New Road's common land was to cease sparked controversy with campaigners still arguing vociferously for its reinstatement.

The closure came as a result of a health and safety report received by SLDC which identified ‘grave and severe’ potential dangers over the use of the riverside land as a car park.

It raised concerns about how traffic exits and rejoins New Road and the risks to pedestrians and vehicles navigating their way across it.

According to Mr Harrison, Kendal BID was unable at the time to take a public stance on SLDC's controversial decision to close the car park.

"The BID members are paranoid about parking," he said. "And so the BID couldn't take a view on parking itself because we appreciate why the council did it and we can understand the financial threat that was there and why they changed the use. But we didn't have a public view one way or another.

"But now it's changed we see it as massive potential for a welcome area and almost like a focal point for the town. If we take advantage of it I think eventually everyone will realise that the common land can be used by a massive amount of people and they can all get enjoyment out of it."

Mr Harrison brought the idea of the weekly Saturday morning park run to Kendal Town Council's management committee.

He explained that the run itself would start on Gooseholme, follow the canal path, turn back at the leisure centre and then finish back at Gooseholme.

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Consultation had found that previous attempts to establish a run had been thwarted due to the difficulties of finding an appropriate traffic free route.

Kendal Town councillor John Veevers highlighted a few problems with the idea at the meeting.

"You are supposed to leave access for other users but clearly on the canal path it is not possible to do that because it's not wide enough," he said. "And you have to cross the road in some places."

However, Mr Harrison has suggested that the latest SLDC Kendal Development Plan might offer a solution to the traffic free requirement.

"We perceive that with a bit of luck and a bit of vision we might be able to make that canal route runner friendly," he said. "But it needs some work on it.

"I know someone has looked into this before but they could not find a suitable venue in Kendal."

A park run ambassador will be coming to Kendal to meet with Mr Harrison in order to discuss the suitability of the proposals and the item will be added to the agenda of Kendal Town Council's full meeting.

"The BID are not necessarily all that keen on running but what they are keen on is putting potential into the town centre," said Mr Harrison.

"If we could attract two or three hundred runners every week, BID would achieve its objective of attracting people into the town centre."

Kendal BID would hope to secure funding for its plans from SLDC as well as seeking grants from other organisations, for example health and sporting charities.

A spokesperson for SLDC told the Gazette that it 'welcomed suggestions' for the use of the common land.

"We welcome the input and we will certainly be talking to businesses and welcome views in how that land will potentially be used," said a spokesman.

SLDC's next steps will be to undertake decontamination work, put in paths and lay some grass but the spokesperson said it was 'too early to say' how the land will be used in the long term.

Future arrangements for the site are bound up in what suggestions the Environment Agency (EA) make for the town's flood defences, which may impact how the land can be used.

"It's a vision for leisure and pleasure, it really is," Mr Harrison said. "It'll be a leisure zone for the whole time. If we work hard to make it happen, it'll be good for the town for years to come."