Overview & Scrutiny heads to Grange Over Sands

2 August 2011 

South Lakeland District Council’s Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee (O&S) will be holding their next meeting at the Victoria Hall in Grange over Sands on Tuesday 9 August at 6.30pm.  The council wants local residents to be included in discussions on issues which affect their community and where they live. 

O&S meetings have a less formal style and language than other council meetings but also have a key role in holding the council’s Cabinet to account.  Through evidence based investigations they can highlight potential improvements and provide an opportunity for council decisions, policies and services to be reviewed. 

Items on the agenda to be discussed at the meeting include the ongoing development of the Berners Close site in the town.  SLDC has been working very hard with the Berners Vision Partnership to keep this comprehensive project on track.  The Communities O&S meeting will be discussing a number of recommendations to move the project forward to the next stage.  As the subject involves commercially sensitive negotiations, some of the issues the Committee will consider will be held in ‘Part II’ where the public and press are excluded.

Councillor Mary Wilson, Chair of the Communities Overview & Scrutiny Committee, said: “Overview and Scrutiny play a big part in ensuring that council services meet the needs of the local community.  I am looking forward to holding the meeting in Grange over Sands and taking the debate out of the Town Hall and into the community.  I know there is a lot of interest in the Berners development and hope people will be encouraged to attend the meeting and become involved in the discussion.”  

The council approved the Berners Vision Partnership (BVP) scheme in 2008, which included the redevelopment of the Lido site, the bridge across the railway, Berners Pool and Car Park.  Grange Town Council endorsed this decision and the scheme put forward by BVP was the local community’s preferred choice. 

Since then, detailed negotiations have been ongoing between BVP and SLDC. Due to the current economic climate, there have been some alterations to the original scheme.  This included a change to the original proposal for a retirement hotel, which will now be extra care accommodation and introduced a sub developer McCarthy and Stone.  SLDC and Grange Town Council approved this alteration to the project in March 2010 and the council also granted planning permission for the medical centre.

The meeting will be held at the Victoria Hall in Grange over Sands on 9 August at 6.30pm.  There will be 30 minutes from 6pm for members of the public to informally meet the members of the committee prior to the meeting.  Part I of the agenda is available on the council’s website.