Kendal polling places could change: residents have until 5 October to speak out

Residents across Kendal are being asked to help decide where they will vote at future elections, after Westmorland and Furness Council proposed a series of changes to polling districts and polling places.

The consultation opened on 7 September and closes on Monday 5 October 2026. Final proposals are due to go before a meeting of the full council on Thursday 26 November.

Kendal has more proposed change than anywhere else in the council’s review schedule. One polling district would be split into two, two others would be merged, and the council is seeking views on whether three existing venues remain suitable polling places.

Three Kendal venues under review

The council is asking electors whether the Lonsdale Suite at Kendal Leisure Centre on Burton Road is suitable for a proposed new district called SBM1. The district would cover The Lound, Archers Meadow, properties on the south side of Parkside Road and some streets on the Heron Hill estate.

The council says it is “keen to hear from electors in this area as to whether Kendal Leisure Centre is a suitable polling place”.

A second proposed district, SBM2, would cover properties on Heron Hill and Valley Drive, with voters using the Beck Community Centre on Esthwaite Avenue. The council is also asking whether that venue is suitable.

The Common Room on Castle Walk would remain the polling place for district SBQ, but residents are being asked whether it is still appropriate or whether the Castle Street Centre would be a better option.

The consultation is part of a review required under section 18C of the Representation of the People Act 1983. The detail is set out in a 42-page schedule of polling districts and polling places.

Residents who could be moved to a different venue

Some Kendal households are being told that their polling station would change under the proposals.

Residents on Low Mead, High Mead and Sparrowmire Lane would move from the Methodist Church Room on Union Street to Hallgarth Community Centre. The council says it believes the new location would be more convenient and is seeking views from electors in those streets.

Even-numbered properties on Peat Lane, Grasmere Crescent, Coniston Drive and Ullswater Road up to number 37 would move from district SBJ into SBK. Their proposed polling place would become Sandylands Methodist Church at Sandgate Hall.

Other changes would affect district boundaries without changing where some people vote. Properties south of the railway line, including Beezon Road, Castle Street and nearby streets, Castle Crescent, Kirkbie Green and areas as far as Parr Street and Sunnyside, would move into SBJ. Their polling place would remain the Castle Street Centre.

Homes east of the River Kent, including Lound Road, Lound Street, Garden Road, Lound Square, Old Lound and Riverside Place, would move from SBT1 into the proposed SBM1 district.

However, the published schedule contains a contradiction concerning SBJ and SBK. One section says the polling place for SBK will remain the Castle Street Centre, while another says electors will go to Sandylands Methodist Church at Sandgate Hall. The schedule’s table lists Sandylands Methodist Church as the SBK polling place.

That inconsistency has not been resolved in the supplied notice. Residents in the affected streets may therefore wish to ask the council for clarification during the consultation.

Two districts could be merged

Polling districts SBT1 and SBT2 would be combined into a single district, SBT. Both currently use the Lonsdale Suite at Kendal Leisure Centre, so the proposed merger would not change their polling venue.

The council’s explanation is that “Now, there is no reason for them to be split.” The new district would have the same boundary as the Kendal South parish ward.

Several other districts are proposed to remain unchanged: SBN, SBO, SBL, SBR, SBU and SCQ at Natland. The council is nevertheless inviting suggestions about Kirkland Parish Hall, which sits slightly outside district SBO, and the Castle Street Centre, which is outside district SBP but remains its polling place.

The five Kendal council wards contain a combined 24,449 electors. The largest is Kendal Strickland and Fell, with 5,190 electors, followed by Kendal Highgate with 5,000, Kendal Nether with 4,981, Kendal Castle with 4,743 and Kendal South with 4,535. Kendal South also includes Natland, about two miles south of Kendal.

How to comment before the deadline

Residents can respond through the council’s polling district review survey, by emailing [email protected], or by post to Electoral Services, Voreda House, Portland Place, Penrith, CA11 7BF.

The council asks anyone objecting to a venue to name an alternative building where possible. It also particularly wants comments from people with expertise in access for disabled voters. Responses will be published anonymously on the council’s website.

The review documents can be inspected at Kendal Town Hall, Barrow Town Hall and Voreda House in Penrith.