AMBITIOUS plans to move Kendal's 100-year-old auc-tion mart out of town and turn it into a state-of-the-art agricultural centre complete with an abattoir have been unveiled, reports Justin Hawkins.

Shareholders of Kendal Auction Mart were due to be told at the company's annual meeting last night (Thursday) about the multi-million pound proposals to relocate the market from its Appleby Road site to Moss End Farm close to junction 36 of the M6.

Plans are still at an early stage, but the firm is on

the verge of approaching planning authorities with the scheme which could provide jobs and attract investment to the area.

The proposals are to turn a 20-acre site on the east side of the M6 near the Crooklands roundabout into a centre of agricultural excellence with a brand-new auction mart and range of other businesses such as agricultural supply and support services.

Managing director of Kendal auction mart Clifford Kendal said the new mart would incorporate the latest technology allowing it to broadcast information and images over the internet to offer South Lakeland's renowned stock to a national and inter-national market.

Perhaps the most radical part of the plan is to build a medium-sized abattoir on the site.

Chairman of Kendal Auction Mart John Ladell said discussions had already been held with firms interested in operating the abattoir, but he reassured local people that it would be a relatively small-scale operation.

"It will be a modern, purpose-built facility for local farmers to meet their requirements and supply local butchers and caterers with meat.

It will not be on an industrial scale to supply super-markets." He stressed that the site was isolated and that the development would use existing farm buildings as much as possible and would not be an eyesore.

Preliminary discussions on the project have already been held with South Lakeland District Council, Cumbria County Council and the North West Development Agency, but Mr Ladell said that local businesses and people would be consulted on the plans before any action was taken.

Money for the project will be raised by the sale of the mart's present home on a four-and-a-half acre site in Kendal, but it is hoped the scheme will also be able to tap into foot-and-mouth recovery funds and attract money from government agencies and possibly from Europe.

Myerscough Agricultural College has been acting as consultant on the project.

The college, recommended by the North West Regional Development Agency, has been helping to produce a scheme which complies with Government thinking on the future direction of British agriculture.

Mr Ladell said: "Now is exactly the right time to do it.

It is no good just sitting back and saying we should have done this or we should have done that, we need to show some leadership at the moment or it will be a missed opportunity." He would like the site ready for next autumn's crucial sales of store and breeding stock which have been disrupted by foot-and-mouth this year.

Mr Kendal described it as a "once in a lifetime opportunity" for one of the most important livestock areas in Britain.

"It's an

act of faith that we are prepared to realise our assets and re-invest in the industry."

He said the development would not only help promote local food such as the auction mart's own Lakeland Lamb brand and help local farmers add value to their produce, but could also become a centre for training and an example of best practice.

The area around junction 36 of the M6 has had a chequered planning history.

Several schemes have been put forward in the last few years, including housing, business development and park-and-ride.

But SLDC has been reluctant to allow development in open countryside considered an excellent gateway to the Lakes.

An area to the south east of Milnthorpe, which includes the old Nestle factory, has been earmarked by the council for business and employment develop-ment.

This site was investigated by the auction mart, but the area was too small and the transport links unsuitable.

Richard Greenwood, head of economy and develop-ment at SLDC, has already been involved in prelim-inary discussions and he did not dismiss the auction mart's plans.

" We would like to see the auction mart move from an inappropriate site.

I think the council has broadly accepted the idea that there could be some development near junction 36 - it is really a case of ' have we got the right site?" he said.

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