The County Hall in Kendal is to be permanently closed following a decision made by Westmorland and Furness Council’s cabinet.

In a meeting on Tuesday, cabinet members backed recommendations to shut the County Hall and Offices for council services, as well as confirming that the building is ‘surplus to requirements’.

According to the council, the way residents access services will not be affected by the change, with Kendal Town Hall and South Lakeland House serving as the delivery points for customer services, registrars and ceremonies, council meetings, and other public-facing services.

The statement also revealed that it had been decided by the countywide service, Cumbria Archives, that Kendal County Hall was an unsuitable location for archive collections to be kept.

With the majority of the collections being moved into specialist storage, Barrow and Carlisle archive centres will be used as a base for some materials. As a result, public access to the documents will be paused for three months before the public search room in Kendal Library is to reopen.

The move follows a decision in June 2024 to close the County Hall for everyday operations.

The main building, the front and immediate rear car parks and the ‘visitor’ car park will be included in the surplus asset approval, while a Community Asset Transfer and/or market value sale will be adopted to ensure the ‘active management of the authority’s estate and the release of underutilised assets’.

Cllr Andrew Jarvis, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, said that the council will continue to carefully consider feedback from the community in order to provide value for money.

He said: ‘We know County Hall is part of Kendal’s story, and we understand that people will feel strongly about what happens next. We believe it can have a bright and useful future, and also remain an important part of the town’s identity and architecture.’