The committee lost no time in employing the eminent water engineer John Frederick Bateman to advise on the scheme, who in turn commissioned Job Bintley to survey the proposed sites in September and October 1844. By November there was serious discussion in the local press, both for and against the scheme. Arguments against the scheme focused on the high cost, the fact that it would only be a benefit to a small number of mill owners, it would use up valuable agricultural land, and would cause desolation and loss of life if the dam burst. Those supporting the scheme argued that Kendal was losing out as a manufacturing town to those which had a cheap supply of coal, and enabling the mills to operate regularly would boost the manufacturing industry, and hence the prosperity of the town.