Council to review town's car parking spaces

A council will launch an eight-month review into the availability of car parking in a market town.

Westmorland and Furness Council said it would investigate usage patterns in Kendal from August to March.

The findings would inform future parking strategies and funding decisions, it said.

It follows the Liberal Democrat-led authority's announcement that it will increase the size of parking bays at Westmorland Shopping Centre's car park.

It said the work there, which was due to customer feedback, would begin in September and the car park would remain open throughout.

The width of the site's bays would increase from 2.4m (7ft 10in) to 2.6m (8ft 6in) with some bays located between structural pillars widened to more than 3m (9ft 10in), it said.

Lib Dem councillor Andrew Jarvis said the car park had been designed for "very different era of motoring".

He said the larger bays would mean fewer spaces but a "better experience" for drivers.

The council said it was looking to free up more visitor and resident parking in Kendal to make up for the reduction in spaces at the shopping centre.

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