HUNDREDS of people gathered at a special exhibition to view ambitious plans for a prominent and historic part of the Grange-over-Sands promenade.

Five development companies took over the town’s Victoria Hall this week for a special public “meet and greet” event designed to promote their own individual proposals for the revamping of the Berners pool area.

The five companies which are vying for the right to transform the area at Berners Close - which includes the pool, car park and lido - are supermarket giant Tesco; Maple Grove Developments; Stonewell Property Company; Cityheart Ltd from Chester and the Berners Vision Partnership (BVP).

BVP is a consortium of local businesses including Russell Armer and South Lakes Hotels (SLH).

SLH Director Jonathan Denby said his plans for the site - which include a state of the art leisure centre, five star art deco retirement hotel, medical centre and a lido café adorned with 40 feet steel palm trees – was motivated by a desire to bring the ”very best facilities” to his hometown.

“We are the only local bidders and the big problem with Berners was that it was built entirely by outsiders and local people had no involvement. We understand what the community wants and people know that I, as a resident, am 100 per cent committed to making the project succeed,” said Mr Denby.

Spokesman for the Tesco bid Tony Brunskill said he had fielded some “extremely interesting questions and comments” about the lido area.

“The original lido was a very popular and valued space and we plan to bring it back to life with a public arts and business centre. We also feel it is important to keep the feel of the 1930s context of the area,” said Mr Brunskill.

Tesco’s plans for Berners have come just months after Booths launched proposals to transform the town’s Batemans Toyota car dealership site into a new supermarket.

Emma Beresford, who is a resident of Thornfield Road adjacent to the Berners site said she had “mixed views” on many of the plans and felt they could have placed more emphasis on affordable housing.

“I was pleased to see that there are big plans for leisure facilities. The pool was important as there are a lot of families with children in the area and it is vital for the social and healthy wellbeing of local people,” she said.

Fellow resident Sue Layfield said: “People are not opposed to new ideas if it is beneficial to Grange. The town needs an input of money to regenerate it, it is just a question of how it happens.”

Maple Grove’s plans include an new boutique hotel run by Cartmel’s Michelin starred hotel L’enclume, a new health centre and 42 new apartments while Cityheart hopes to transform the lido with a new bowling club.

Stonewell Property’s plans feature supported living accommodation, community arts centre and a sunken garden at the lido.

Representing South Lakeland District Council Peter Knapton of NPS Group said he had been “very pleased” with the turnout of local people and that their views would count for 20 per cent in the selection process to decide which bid was eventually successful.