Work commenced in February 2006 and will cover all of the detailed work necessary to develop a full masterplan. This will include an economic assessment, environmental assessment, land use appraisal, market appraisal, funding appraisal and public consultation. Throughout the process, British Waterways will continue to work closely with South Lakeland District Council, Cumbria County Council and landowners to ensure that their aspirations and concerns are fully considered.

Jason Leach, Project Manager, British Waterways said: “Although British Waterways has already done a lot of work on the technical feasibility it is fantastic to appoint the masterplanners to really move the project further forward. The key to the project is identifying what Kendal needs in terms of commercial and leisure facilities while allowing landowners to benefit from the opportunity to develop around a high quality, vibrant water space."

In autumn 2006, British Waterways held an exhibition to display a range of development options for the Kendal Canal Head Masterplan. Interested residents of South Lakeland attended the display at Kendal Town Hall to look and comment on the four options that has been produced by Arup/EDAW. The four options range from a very small development with no canal, to a vibrant mix of cafes, restaurants, hotels, housing and industry.

Option One (Click to see details in PDF file)
Option One is constrained by the planning applications that have been or are due to be submitted at the northern end of the canal. This option looks at simply redeveloping 3.8 ha of land and it is assumed that this will evolve on an ad hoc basis. This means that no development will be associated with the canal and no income will be created for the construction of the canal.

Option Two (Click to see details in PDF file)
Option Two is a 5.5 hectare development to the west of the canal. This option retains a number of landmark buildings and will provide a concentrated mix of uses in the Canal Quarter. This is centred on a series of small attractive public spaces in which there will be provision for outdoor seating, market and small festival space, which along with small retail units will offer the basis for the creation of a café culture. Under this option there will be less residential development in the north of the site than the south and the possibility of up to £4m funding from the development towards the construction of the canal.

Option Three A (Click to see details in PDF file)
Option Three is an 8 hectare development to both east and west of the canal. This option also retains a number of landmark buildings and will provide a concentrated mix of uses in the Canal Quarter along a new canal arm. This option also includes provision of a wealth of outdoor seating, café culture, markets and small festival space as well as small retail units. More residential units will be located at Canal Head to provide a more varied spectrum of uses with the southern area providing some apartments and family housing. Some office space is also included and this option could potentially provide between £2.5m and £13m towards for the construction of the canal.

Option Three B (Click to see details in PDF file)
Option Three B is very similar to Option Three A although this option does not include any office or industrial space. It is an 8 hectare development to both east and west of the canal that retains a number of landmark buildings. This option also provides a concentrated mix of uses in the Canal Quarter along a new canal arm and includes provision of a wealth of outdoor seating, café culture, markets and small festival space as well as small retail units. More residential units will be located at Canal Head to provide a more varied spectrum of uses with apartments located in the southern area. This option could potentially provide between £4m and £14.5m funding towards the construction of the canal.