THE leader of South Lakeland District Council has levelled both barrels at an opposition councillor after it was claimed money was being 'held back.'

Following a freedom of information request SLDC member for Windermere Applethwaite and Troutbeck, Ben Berry, hit out at the nearly £7m pot of money sat in SLDC's reserve fund.

He said it was wrong for the council to raise council tax and leave projects such as additional parking in Kendal, and the revival of the Grange Lido in limbo.

Click here to read Cllr Berry's statement in full.

Council leader, Lib Dem Giles Archibald, unleashed a blistering response against the claims made by his Conservative colleague.

He said:“I’m stunned at just how much Ben has got wrong here.

“He’s wrong to say the financial reserves are just a ‘cushion’ - After Storm Desmond devastated our area just a few years ago, we were able to use these reserves to provide people with much needed support in their hour of need. We collected a huge amount of flood damaged possessions from the roadside, had emergency evacuation centres available and provided a base and support for the Kendal Cares initiative in the days after the floods.

“He’s wrong to compare financial reserves of £6m with a net revenue budget – our total annual budget is £29m.

"He’s wrong on council tax – we have not put council tax up by the maximum this year and have made no such commitments to increase it by the maximum in future years. We have a strong track record on keeping council tax low - for five of the 12 years we’ve run the council we haven’t put up council tax at all. Yet when the Conservatives last led the council, council tax rose by as much as 10% a year.

"He’s wrong on about the future of New Road common land in Kendal - the future of this area will be decided by the people of Kendal once we have a finalised plan from the Environment Agency.

"He’s wrong on no progress being made on the Lido in Grange - we have been clear that we will bring forward a major plan of works soon for council to consider. Indeed, as Ben should know, this was discussed at a Grange Town council meeting just last month.

"There is so much wrong here that, quite frankly, it goes to show unprepared the Conservatives would be to run the council if they ever got in."