Cumbria County Council's cabinet is yet to decide whether to approve extra funding for research into the South Lakeland Gateway Project.

The partnership of public and private organisations that is developing the project, has asked the council for £9,000 to get the scheme to the planning application stage but the cabinet opted to defer the application back to the Regeneration Scrutiny Panel for more detailed consideration.

Chairman of the Regeneration Scrutiny Panel Coun Tom Clare told the cabinet that a meeting of the panel that took place in July did not have the benefit of information contained in a detailed progress report to which the cabinet now had access.

The main aim of the project is to bring together branded farm produce, an auction mart and other rural activities to create a new visitor attraction close to junction 36 of the M6, connecting consumers with producers and providing new ways of selling agricultural produce.

Coun Clare had raised several questions regarding the project at the panel meeting in July, including whether or not Kendal was the right location for the project if it was intended to benefit Cumbria as a whole.

The council has already provided £40,000 for research into the project and the extra £9,000 requested will help pay for a flood risk assessment, archaeological survey and further ecological work.

The Scrutiny Regeneration Panel will meet again on Tuesday, and the cabinet will again consider the extra funding for the project a week later.