Kendal News is an independent news and information site for Kendal and the southern Lake District. We read the public record and publish what is in it, and we keep the everyday local information accurate.
Our patch, and the council’s
Kendal is the anchor, with Windermere, Bowness, Ambleside, Staveley and Grange-over-Sands around it and the valleys between. The council, Westmorland and Furness, covers a great deal more than that. It was created on 1 April 2023 by merging South Lakeland, Eden and Barrow, so the same authority now answers for Penrith in one direction and the shipyards of Barrow-in-Furness in another. We do not pretend a single site can speak for all three, so we write about the Kendal and Lakes end, and we report the council’s decisions in full because they apply here too.
Who decides what
This matters more here than in most places. Westmorland and Furness Council handles bins, council tax, licensing, highways and schools. Inside the national park boundary, planning applications are determined by the Lake District National Park Authority rather than the council. When we report a decision we name the body that made it, and we link to its own record of it.
How we report
From named sources: the council’s planning register and committee papers, the national park authority’s planning register, licensing notices, police.uk crime data, HM Land Registry sold prices, Food Standards Agency hygiene ratings, Environment Agency flood warnings for the Kent and the other local rivers, and company filings in The Gazette. Flooding is a standing subject in this town and we report the official warnings rather than the rumours. Where a record is unclear we say it is unclear.
Tips and corrections
Email hello@kendalnews.co.uk with a tip, an event worth listing, or a correction. Tips are treated in confidence, and corrections are made quickly and noted on the page.
Kendal News is part of the GOB Media Group. We are independent of the council, the national park authority and everyone else we report on.