District in Cumbria, England
This article is about the unitary authority area. For the historic county, see
Westmorland
. For other uses, see
Westmoreland
.
Unitary authority area in England
Westmorland and Furness
is a
unitary authority area
in
Cumbria
, England.
[4]
[5]
The economy is mainly focused on
tourism
around both the
Lake District
and
Cumbria Coast
,
shipbuilding
and the
port
in
Barrow-in-Furness
, and
agriculture
in the rural parts of the area.
The council area formed on 1 April 2023, on the abolition of
Cumbria County Council
[6]
[7]
The council covers the areas formerly served by the districts of
Barrow-in-Furness
,
Eden
, and
South Lakeland
, which also ceased to function. It includes all of the area of the historic county of
Westmorland
as well as the Furness district of historic
Lancashire
. It also incorporates a very small part of historic
Yorkshire
, together with about a quarter of the area of (but only 10% of the population of) the historic county of
Cumberland
. The other part of Cumbria, to the north and west, forms the unitary authority area of
Cumberland
.
The
first elections to the new authority
took place in May 2022, with the
Westmorland and Furness Council
acting as a 'shadow authority' until the abolition of the three former districts and Cumbria County Council on 1 April 2023.
[8]
Background
[
edit
]
Elections to
Cumbria County Council
were due to take place in May 2021; however, they were postponed for one year by the
Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
due to a consultation on local government reorganisation in the area.
[9]
In July 2021, the government announced that the current authorities in Cumbria would be abolished and replaced with two unitary authorities, with an east/west split of the county.
[10]
Opponents of the reorganisation claimed that the proposal was being pursued to benefit the electoral prospects of the
Conservative Party
. Cumbria County Council, which would be abolished under the plans, sought
judicial review
to prevent the reorganisation from taking place.
[11]
The judicial review was refused by the High Court in January 2022.
[12]
Draft statutory instruments to bring about local government reorganisation in Cumbria were subsequently laid before parliament.
[7]
The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022 (2022 No. 331) was made on 17 March 2022, and came into force the following day.
[13]
The name of the unitary authority derives from the county of
Westmorland
and the
peninsula
of
Furness
.
[14]
Westmorland was previously an administrative county until it was abolished by the
Local Government Act 1972
and became part of the new county of Cumbria. Furness was part of the
administrative county
of
Lancashire
until 1974; together with the
Cartmel Peninsula
, it formed an
exclave
of that county, historically part of the Lonsdale Hundred of Lancashire known as
North Lonsdale
or Lancashire North of the Sands.
[15]
In addition to those areas, the district includes part of the historic county of
Cumberland
in the
Penrith
area and an area centred on
Sedbergh
, which was part of the
West Riding of Yorkshire
.
Geography
[
edit
]
Major settlements and civil parishes
|
|
|
Politics
[
edit
]
Westmorland and Furness Council
has 65 councillors,
[16]
and the
first election
to the local authority was in May 2022. At that election the
Liberal Democrats
secured a majority on the incoming council with 36 out of 65 councillors.
Labour
have 15 councillors, the
Conservatives
have 11 councillors, the
Green Party
have 1 councillor and 2 councillors were elected as independents.
[17]
[18]
Westmorland and Furness, together with neighbouring
Cumberland
, constitute a
ceremonial county
named "Cumbria" for the purpose of
lieutenancy
and
shrievalties
, being presided over by a
Lord Lieutenant of Cumbria
and a
High Sheriff of Cumbria
. Ceremonial counties do not discharge any administrative function.
[19]
[20]
Police services are provided by
Cumbria Constabulary
and fire services by
Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service
. These are both overseen by the
Cumbria Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner
.
[21]
Economy
[
edit
]
- Barrow's shipyard
is the UK's largest.
BAE Systems
is the current owner and employs around 12,000.
[22]
- Associated British Ports Holdings own and operate the
port of Barrow
.
[23]
- The only
Kimberly-Clark
mill in the North of England is located in Barrow.
[24]
- James Fisher & Sons
, a large provider of marine engineering services, is based in Barrow.
[25]
- One of the largest single-site furniture stores in the UK,
Stollers
, is located in Barrow.
[26]
- Center Parcs
owns a large resort in
Whinfell Forest
near Penrith.
[27]
- Logistics company
Eddie Stobart Logistics
, own a large transport depot at
Penrith
.
- National sawdust, animal bedding, bark suppliers and road hauliers A W Jenkinson are headquartered at Clifton, Penrith.
- Pharmaceutical company
GlaxoSmithKline
operates a large factory in
Ulverston
.
[28]
- International kitchenware retailer
Lakeland
has its headquarters and flagship store in
Windermere
.
[29]
- Kendal Nutricare Ltd now run the baby milk factory formerly operated by Farley Health Products, a subsidiary of the
Heinz Company
in
Kendal
.
[30]
Transport
[
edit
]
The
West Coast Main Railway Line
runs through the district, with a stations at
Penrith
and
Oxenholme
. Services on the line are provided by
Avanti West Coast
and
TransPennine Express
. The
Northern
Settle?Carlisle line
also runs through, with stations at
Armathwaite
,
Lazonby
,
Langwathby
,
Appleby
,
Kirkby Stephen
,
Garsdale
and
Dent
. Other lines in the district include the
Cumbrian Coast
(the line terminate at
Barrow-in-Furness
),
Furness
(to
Lancaster
)
and
Lakes
(which runs through
Kendal
).
Roads through the district include the
M6 motorway
, the
A6
and the
A66
.
Media
[
edit
]
In terms of television, the area is covered by
BBC North West
and
ITV Granada
which both broadcast from
Salford
and
BBC North East and Cumbria
broadcasting from
Newcastle
and
ITV Border
that broadcast from
Gateshead
.
Radio stations for the area are
BBC Radio Cumbria
,
BBC Radio Lancashire
can also be received,
Heart North West
,
Smooth Lake District
,
Greatest Hits Radio Cumbria & South West Scotland
and community based stations:
Eden FM Radio
, Lake District Radio
[31]
and Bay Trust Radio.
[32]
The district's local newspapers are
The Westmorland Gazette
and
North West Evening Mail
.
[33]
See also
[
edit
]
Places adjacent to Westmorland and Furness
|
---|
|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Councillors and committees"
.
Westmorland and Furness Council
. Retrieved
18 December
2023
.
- ^
"Mid-Year Population Estimates, UK, June 2022"
.
Office for National Statistics
. 26 March 2024
. Retrieved
3 May
2024
.
- ^
"Mid-Year Population Estimates, UK, June 2022"
.
Office for National Statistics
. 26 March 2024
. Retrieved
3 May
2024
.
- ^
"The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022"
.
legislation.gov.uk
. Retrieved
3 June
2023
.
- ^
"Lieutenancies Act 1997"
.
legislation.gov.uk
. Retrieved
16 May
2023
.
- ^
"Next steps for new unitary councils in Cumbria, North Yorkshire and Somerset"
. Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. 21 July 2021
. Retrieved
9 January
2022
.
- ^
a
b
"The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022"
.
- ^
"Names for two controversial Cumbria councils revealed"
. BBC News. 5 November 2021
. Retrieved
9 January
2022
.
- ^
"Local elections postponed in three English counties"
. BBC News. 23 February 2021
. Retrieved
9 January
2022
.
- ^
"Cumbria councils to be replaced by two authorities"
. BBC News. 22 July 2021
. Retrieved
9 January
2022
.
- ^
"Cumbria County Council launches legal action over shake-up"
. BBC News. October 2021
. Retrieved
9 January
2022
.
- ^
"Bid to stop local government reorganisation lands county council with £30,000 bill - cumbriacrack.com"
.
- ^
"The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022"
.
- ^
Kenyon, Megan (8 November 2021).
"Names of two new Cumbria unitaries confirmed"
. Local Government Chronicle
. Retrieved
4 May
2022
.
- ^
"North Lonsdale Lancashire"
.
Vision of Britain
.
- ^
"Elections - May 2022"
.
New Councils for Cumbria
.
- ^
"Westmorland and Furness"
.
www.westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk
.
- ^
"Westmorland & Furness result - Local Elections 2022"
.
BBC News
.
- ^
"The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022"
.
- ^
"The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022"
.
- ^
Milligan, Laura (4 April 2023).
"PCC officially takes on responsibility for Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service's governance"
.
Cumbria Police and Crime Commissioner
. Retrieved
8 April
2023
.
- ^
BAE Workforce 2024
- ^
"Port of Barrow"
. Associated British Ports Holdings. Archived from
the original
on 27 September 2007
. Retrieved
18 June
2011
.
- ^
"Kimberly-Clark Barrow"
. Kimberly-Clark. Archived from
the original
on 13 July 2011
. Retrieved
15 July
2010
.
- ^
"James Fisher & Sons Barrow"
. James Fisher & Sons.
Archived
from the original on 30 August 2012
. Retrieved
15 July
2010
.
- ^
"Stollers Barrow"
. Stollers. Archived from
the original
on 1 March 2010
. Retrieved
16 July
2010
.
- ^
"Center Parcs"
. Center Parcs.
Archived
from the original on 12 July 2010
. Retrieved
16 July
2010
.
- ^
"GlaxoSmithKline Ulverston"
. GlaxoSmithKline. Archived from
the original
on 28 June 2012
. Retrieved
16 July
2010
.
- ^
"Lakeland Windermere"
. Lakeland.
Archived
from the original on 5 May 2011
. Retrieved
16 July
2010
.
- ^
"Heinz Kendal"
. Applegate. Archived from
the original
on 24 December 2013
. Retrieved
16 July
2010
.
- ^
"Real Radio, Real People and Really Local!"
.
Lake District Radio
. 2024
. Retrieved
16 April
2024
.
- ^
"Welcome to Bay Trust Radio"
.
Bay Trust Radio Radio
. 2024
. Retrieved
16 April
2024
.
- ^
"Local Newspapers for Cumbria and the Lake District"
.
|
---|
|
Unitary authorities
| |
---|
Major settlements
(cities in italics)
| |
---|
Topics
| |
---|