The leader of Cumbria County Council is reminding the public there is less than a week left to have their say on proposals for local government reorganisation in Cumbria.
The Government launched a formal consultation on the future of local government in Cumbria in February, and the consultation ends on April 19.
In total, the Secretary of State received four proposals from councils in Cumbria. The proposal from Cumbria County Council is for ‘One Cumbria’ – a new unitary council for the whole of Cumbria.
Stewart Young, Leader of Cumbria County Council said: “This is an opportunity for local people to influence and shape the future of Local Government in our County.
“One Cumbria will remove layers of unnecessary bureaucracy by streamlining seven councils into one local model, making much more sense to our residents and to our communities.
“I am encouraging people to make their views and opinions known so that the final decision by government is informed by what people want locally.”
The four proposals being consulted on are as follows:
- Cumbria County Council submitted a proposal for a single unitary council covering the county area of Cumbria County ‘One Cumbria’.
- The two councils – Allerdale and Copeland – jointly submitted a proposal for two unitary councils: West Cumbria comprising the area covered by Allerdale Borough, Carlisle City and Copeland Borough Councils and East Cumbria comprising the area covered by Barrow Borough, Eden District and South Lakeland District Councils.
- The two councils – Barrow and South Lakeland – jointly submitted a proposal for two unitary councils: ‘The Bay’ comprising the area covered by Barrow Borough, South Lakeland District and Lancaster City Councils and North Cumbria comprising the area covered by Allerdale Borough, Carlisle City, Copeland Borough and Eden District Councils.
- The two councils – Carlisle and Eden – jointly submitted a proposal for two unitary councils: North Cumbria comprising the area covered by Allerdale Borough, Carlisle City and Eden District Councils and South Cumbria comprising the area covered by Barrow Borough, Copeland Borough and South Lakeland District Councils.
The government’s consultation can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposals-for-locally-led-reorganisation-of-local-government-in-cumbria-north-yorkshire-and-somerset