KENDAL'S economy has been hit by a series of severe body blows in recent years.

Major job losses at Axa and Scottish Provident and the demise of K Shoes left the town bruised and battered. Like a punch-drunk boxer who had been hit too many times, the town seemed stuck on the canvas, with some people wondering if it would ever be able to drag itself to its feet again.

There has been further anxiety in recent weeks over the future of Kendal's Parmalat plant, while this week it emerged that outdoor clothing company Lowe Alpine has warned its Kendal staff that up to 50 people could lose their jobs when it moves part of its operation to Italy.

South Lakeland folk have no shortage of fighting spirit and life, as they say, goes on. People adapt, find new jobs, move on, cope but large-scale job losses like these take their toll on the overall strength of a town.

The economy and the health of the community are intrinsically linked. Well-paid jobs and thriving firms mean there is more money to be spent locally in the shops, in the area's cafes and restaurants, on leisure activities. People have greater purchasing power when it comes to finding a rung on the area's notoriously-difficult housing ladder; expanding firms bring in new talent whose families play their own part in the local community, supporting schools and public services. Success breeds success, but when things start to go wrong the spiral can move downwards very swiftly.

As well as the obvious problems created when big firms shed staff, Kendal's economy faces other challenges. Local businessmen and civic leaders have been warning for some time that the town needs more business parks to accommodate those local firms which are doing well and wish to expand. They have been frustrated by planning inspectors' decisions to refuse such parks at North Sandylands and at the Burton Road/Oxenholme Road triangle - though many nearby residents have welcomed those decisions.

So - Kendal needs some good news to counter all the doom and gloom.

This week it finally got some. Dale Farm Group, a Northern Irish dairy company, announced it had bought Kendal's Parmalat plant and hoped to secure the 200 jobs at the site.

Meanwhile, South Lakes businessman Jonathan Denby snapped up Kendal's Riverside Hotel, unveiled plans for a £500,000 upgrade and said more staff would be needed. He also announced he had bought a whole block of property and land next to the hotel on Beezon Road and was in talks with a developer, who wanted to create a mixed use development there.

The Denby scheme is interesting as it is close to the historic bonded warehouse at Beezon Fields, where plans are afoot to create retail and non-retail outlets, also likely to create plenty of new jobs. Kendal could end up with a new centre of commercial prosperity if these schemes come to fruition.

And, as reported last week, the first tenants have moved into the Riverside Business Park, which is rising from the ashes of the former K Shoes factory at Natland Road. There seems to be strong interest from firms in moving on to the site, which might also include some much-needed incubation units' to provide support for fledgling businesses.

While all plans must be judged on their individual planning merits, such schemes feel right for Kendal they are using brownfield' industrial sites, rather than upsetting people by building on open spaces.

They are also innovative plans, which show local people imaginatively seeking to re-use former industrial sites for the new breed of entrepreneurs and businessmen.

If old sites can be brought back into use to create new jobs - and that famous Kendal fighting spirit can be maintained then there is still hope that the local economy, and therefore the whole community, can prosper in future.