We had the long, drawn out, fanfare with Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness councils building up to their launch with a daily diet of Twitter and Facebook and, five days in, nothing has changed, apart, of course for the rise in our council tax.
With all this publicity, at the time of writing, Cumberland Council had garnered 425 followers on Instagram and 875 on Twitter.
Westmorland and Furness also plumbed the depths by getting only 349 followers on Insta and 1,045 on Twitter. They probably got more people listening to their town criers, than follow them on social media.
Cumberland Council even had to point out that the logos and decals on council vehicles had changed. Do they think so little of the public they serve, that they thought we might not notice?
How much did it cost to attract each of these followers? I’m pretty sure there won’t be whoops of delight and the sound of champagne corks popping in their respective communications/PR departments with engagement figures like those.
The highlights, so far? Cumberland are going to set up community panels to decide on the priorities for their area. Great idea – let’s call them district councils!
And Westmorland and Furness reported that the Windermere Ferry was having emergency maintenance.
So, nothing has changed – it was never going to be a revolution – except the political leadership.
Hopefully, both councils will get on with the job without having a fanfare of social media every time one of them sneezes.
About Cumbria Cat
Born in Cumberland and, now, back living in Cumberland, having spent most of the past 50 years in some place called Cumbria, this cat has used up all nine lives as well as a few others.
Always happy to curl up on a friendly lap, the preference is for a local lap and not a lap that wants to descend on the county to change it into something it isn’t. After all, you might think Cumbria/Cumberland/Westmorland is a land forged by nature – the glaciers, the rivers, breaking down the volcanic rocks or the sedimentary layers – but, in reality, the Cumbria we know today was forged by generations of local people, farmers, miners, quarriers, and foresters.
This cat is a local moggy, not a Burmese, Ocicat or Persian, and although I have been around the block a few times, whenever I jump, I end up on my feet back in my home county. I am passionate about the area, its people, past, present and future, and those who come to admire what we hold dear, be it lakes and mountains, wild sea shores, vibrant communities or the history as rich and diverse as anywhere in the world.
