Westmorland and Furness

This article is about the unitary authority area. For the historic county, see Westmorland. For other uses, see Westmoreland.

Westmorland and Furness
Unitary authority area
Top: Windermere Middle: Penrith and Kendal Bottom: Barrow-in-Furness and Dalton-in-Furness
Westmorland and Furness shown within Cumbria
Coordinates: 54°19′34″N2°44′42″W / 54.326°N 2.745°W / 54.326; -2.745
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	England
Region	North West
Ceremonial county	Cumbria
Historic county	Westmorland Lancashire (part) Cumberland (part) Yorkshire (part)
Incorporated	1 April 2023
Administrative HQ	Kendal
Government [1]
• Type	Unitary authority with leader and cabinet
• Body	Westmorland and Furness Council
•  Control	Liberal Democrats
•  Leader	Jonathan Brook (LD)
• Chairman	Matt Severn
•  Chief Executive	Sam Plum
•  House of Commons	3 MPs Tim Farron (LD) Simon Fell (C) Neil Hudson (C)
Area [2]
• Total	1,450 sq mi (3,756 km2)
• Rank	3rd
Population  (2021) [3]
• Total	227,006
• Rank	81st
• Density	200/sq mi (60/km2)
Time zone	UTC+0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
Postcode areas	CA LA
GSS code	E06000064
Website	westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk

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

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

The densely residential Barrow Island

Skyline of Central Barrow

The medieval ruins of Furness Abbey

A coastal scene in North Walney

Piers at Bowness-on-Windermere

Kendal Castle with the town in the background

Sculpture within Grizedale Forest

The village of Ambleside

View from the summit of Helvellyn

The scenic Kirkstone Pass

Arthur's Pike overlooking Ullswater

The historic Lowther Castle

Major settlements and civil parishes

Alston Moor Ambleside Appleby-in-Westmorland Askam and Ireleth Barrow-in-Furness Coniston Dalton

Grasmere Hawkshead Kendal Kirkby Lonsdale Kirkby Stephen Kirkoswald Milnthorpe

Penrith Sedbergh Shap Ulverston Walney Island Windermere

Neighbouring council areas

Local authority	In relation to the district
Cumberland	North
Northumberland	North east
County Durham	East
North Yorkshire	South east
City of Lancaster	South

Politics

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]}

Affiliation		Members
	Liberal Democrats	36
	Labour Party	15
	Conservative Party	11
	Independent	2
	Green Party of England and Wales	1

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]

Twinnings

Settlement	Twinned settlement
Dalton-in-Furness	Dalton, Pennsylvania, United States
Kendal	Killarney, Ireland Rinteln, Germany
Penrith	Penrith, New South Wales, Australia
Sedbergh	Zreče, Slovenia
Ulverston	Albert, France
Windermere	Diessen am Ammersee, Germany

Economy

• 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

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

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

• 2019–2023 structural changes to local government in England

References

1. "Councillors and committees". Westmorland and Furness Council. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
2. "Mid-Year Population Estimates, UK, June 2021". Office for National Statistics. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
3. "Mid-Year Population Estimates, UK, June 2021". Office for National Statistics. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
4. "The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
5. "Lieutenancies Act 1997". legislation.gov.uk . Retrieved 16 May 2023.
6. "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.
7. "The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022".
8. "Names for two controversial Cumbria councils revealed". BBC News. 5 November 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
9. "Local elections postponed in three English counties". BBC News. 23 February 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
10. "Cumbria councils to be replaced by two authorities". BBC News. 22 July 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
11. "Cumbria County Council launches legal action over shake-up". BBC News. October 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
12. "Bid to stop local government reorganisation lands county council with £30,000 bill - cumbriacrack.com".
13. "The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022".
14. Kenyon, Megan (8 November 2021). "Names of two new Cumbria unitaries confirmed". Local Government Chronicle. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
15. "North Lonsdale Lancashire". Vision of Britain.
16. "Elections - May 2022". New Councils for Cumbria.
17. "Westmorland and Furness". www.westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk.
18. "Westmorland & Furness result - Local Elections 2022". BBC News.
19. "The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022".
20. "The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022".
21. 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.
22. BAE Workforce 2024
23. "Port of Barrow". Associated British Ports Holdings. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
24. "Kimberly-Clark Barrow". Kimberly-Clark. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
25. "James Fisher & Sons Barrow". James Fisher & Sons. Archived from the original on 30 August 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
26. "Stollers Barrow". Stollers. Archived from the original on 1 March 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
27. "Center Parcs". Center Parcs. Archived from the original on 12 July 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
28. "GlaxoSmithKline Ulverston". GlaxoSmithKline. Archived from the original on 28 June 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
29. "Lakeland Windermere". Lakeland. Archived from the original on 5 May 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
30. "Heinz Kendal". Applegate. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
31. "Real Radio, Real People and Really Local!". Lake District Radio. 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
32. "Welcome to Bay Trust Radio". Bay Trust Radio Radio. 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
33. "Local Newspapers for Cumbria and the Lake District".