Sir, The residents of Lound Road have already been advised that under the Traffic Management Plan for Kendal, traffic will probably increase by around 40 per cent of present usage.

The volume of traffic from an outlet the size of the proposed K Village added to this projection would be unbearable.

Residents find it increasingly difficult to turn right from Lound Road and have to go up to the roundabout at Romney Bridge to come back along the road.

We have Kirkbie Kendal school only 30 yards from the site and Dean Gibson, Vicarage Park and Kendal College on the route from the by-pass to Lound Road.

Not only is the volume of traffic a risk to our children, the fumes from the huge increase in cars trying to negotiate the roundabout at Romney bridge is also an added risk which no doubt has not been considered.

At present we have a southerly view, looking down Lound Road and out onto the river.

It's not a very large view but at least it is something.

With the new development we would have no view at all, just stone walls and buildings.

The plans for the building suggest that the outer wall will look like a castle wall.

In fact, it resembles a prison wall rather than a castle.

When we showed people the sketches we had made of the plans every person we spoke to said that it looks like Alcatraz.

Is this really what our council thinks its residents want, to live facing this sort of monstrosity?

Could anyone tell me if there is any other town in England with a retail development of this size within a residential area? What Kendal desperately needs is more manufacturing not more retail outlets.

Skilled

people in Kendal are being laid off at Clarks and Goodacres with Gilkes not far behind.

Most of them are men who would not be too happy working in a retail outlet and would be unlikely to possess the customer service skills that retail outlets demand.

The shops in Kendal are always struggling to find staff.

This time last year there was a

suggestion to bus people in from Barrow to fill the vacancies.

Where are the people coming from to work in the proposed development or is K Village going to bus people in from West Cumbria to fill the vacancies?

There are many empty shops within Kendal, mainly due to the high rent and business rates.

The council should be looking at ways to fill these shops before they even think about expanding K Village.

It's not a good image for a town to have a bustling factory outlet but a dead town centre full of empty shops.

Why do people automatically assume that it will bring extra business to the shops in Kendal? If you shop at the Metro Centre, Trafford Centre or Freeport do you go into Gateshead, Manchester or Fleetwood? I doubt it very much.

Kendal has always been renowned for it's small, high class independent retailers and these are the ones who will probably suffer the most.

At present, with 12 units in K Village there is a happy medium, just enough units to make it worth visiting but not too many to tire people out so that they feel unable to go into the town centre.

If the development goes ahead what will happen to the 100+ people employed there, will their wages be paid whilst the place is being demolished and rebuilt? Where will all these anticipated coaches park if the canal goes through to Canal Head? The proposed coach park will be under six feet of water.

We ask that the council agree to a public meeting where we can voice our concerns to both councillors and developers.

By this we mean a full public meeting not just a couple of people making representations to the Development Control Sub-Committee.

The residents of Lound Road area are setting up a residents group and we would love to hear from anyone who supports our views.

I can be contacted on 07855-374676.

Pam Flitcroft

Kendal