Proposals about the headquarters of the new Westmorland and Furness Council will be laid before leaders at a meeting next week.
The council is set to take over from the existing authorities in Eden, South Lakeland and Barrow-in-Furness on April 1, 2023.
Members of the new council are currently meeting as a Shadow Authority, carrying out preparatory work while the existing district and county councils prepare to dissolve.
The leadership of Westmorland and Furness Council is set to meet at County Hall in Kendal on Monday September 12.
And councillors will be asked to agree the main headquarters of their new council, retaining the bases of the existing councils as “anchor buildings.”
A report from Peter Thornton, cabinet member for highways and assets, recommends that the registered office for the purpose of legal notices and regulatory requirements will be South Lakeland House with Kendal Town Hall.
Voreda House in Penrith, county offices in Kendal and Barrow Town Hall will also be retained, giving the new unitary authority a presence in each of the areas it represents.
Eden District Council purchased Voreda House from the NHS so that it can be refurbished into a net zero carbon council office.
County offices in Kendal are currently the county council’s main democratic space with the capacity to host more than 100 councillors.
The report acknowledges that Westmorland and Furness Council will represent a largely rural area with the three towns needed to act as key service centres “where a significant proportion of residents” will access services.
Cllr Thornton’s report reads: “The challenges in transport connectivity mean that the unitary authority will need a decentralised approach to governance that will enable it to be close to the geographically dispersed communities and ensure that services are accessible to all residents even in the remotest parts of Westmorland and Furness.”
Anchor buildings will act as service hubs carrying out administrative work for the authority; only the offices currently owned by county and district councils were considered.
