SOUTH Lakeland District Council is set to agree on a new five-year plan at a meeting tonight.

The new plan sets out the council’s vision and priorities and will run from 2019-24, replacing the plan between 2014-19.

It focusses on the themes of housing and communities, economy and culture and health and environment.

This time there will be an extra emphasis on working together.

A report says: “In developing the plan the vision has been revised to add the words “working together,” to reflect that we cannot achieve our ambition alone and that we work with partners to deliver on our vision and ambitions.”

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“Our ambition is to have a varied economy with a skilled workforce, a balanced housing market to meet needs, great leisure services to encourage healthy lifestyles and a cultural offer that appeals to residents and visitors alike.”

The vision is to make South Lakeland the best place to “live, work and explore.”

The council said it plans to create an environment for people to thrive, deliver excellent value-for-money services, play a leading role and influence others, empower customers and communities, and to become a forward-thinking innovative council.

The plan has to go before a meeting of the full council to be adopted.

The report warns that South Lakeland’s population is ageing significantly faster than the UK, regional or county averages.

“We need to encourage young people to stay and attract new people in to rebalance the population whilst ensuring that our housing, services and infrastructure meet the needs of older people.”

The report suggests that 320 new homes need to be built every year as house prices are nearly ten times the average earnings.

It also warns that climate change is a “challenge and an opportunity”.

“We need to work with the Environment Agency to ensure that we are resilient with effective flood management, including defences, upstream storage and sustainable land management and development.

“At the same time, we need to reduce our carbon footprint and develop low carbon and environmental technologies in our local economy.”

Health is also on the agenda with statistics showing “an increased trend in obesity levels in both children and adults.”