Voters urged to register to have their say in May
On Thursday 5 May people in the Allerdale, Carlisle and Copeland areas will have their say on who represents them on the new Cumberland Council, as well as on any other local and parish councils where there is a vacancy.
In order to vote in May, residents must be on the electoral register. With the deadline to register to vote fast approaching, the local councils are urging people who are not registered at their current address to make sure they are registered in time.
The deadline to register to vote is midnight on Thursday 14 April. It takes just five minutes to apply online. This year electors will be voting to select councillors, who represent their local area and residents, and contribute to the development of policies in areas such as transport, social care and housing on the new Cumberland Council as well as any other local councils where there is a vacancy.
Andrew Seekings Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) for Allerdale Borough Council who is acting as the Returning Officer for the Cumberland Council elections, said: “Time is running out to make sure you can take part in these elections. They are an important opportunity to make your voice heard and have a say on who represents you on issues that directly affect day-to-day life in their local area. If you’re not registered by 14 April, you won’t be able to vote.”
Jason Gooding Carlisle City Council’s chief executive is the Electoral Registration Officer for the Carlisle City Council area, with Copeland Borough Council’s chief executive Pat Graham acting as the ERO for the Copeland area.
Ailsa Irvine, Director of Electoral Administration and Guidance at the Electoral Commission, said: “You can’t have your say in these elections unless you are registered to vote. Registering is easy and only takes five minutes.
“If you have recently turned 18 or moved home, it is particularly important to make sure you are correctly registered to vote.
“If you were registered to vote in the last election and your details have not changed, you don’t need to take any action. If in doubt, you can check with your local authority.”
People can choose to vote in a number of ways – in person, by post or by appointing someone they trust to vote in their place, known as a proxy vote.
The deadline to apply for a postal vote is 5pm on 19 April, and for a proxy vote the deadline is 5pm on 26 April.
For information on elections in their area, how to register to vote, or how to apply to vote by post or by proxy, voters can visit www.electoralcommission.org.uk/voter. This page will continue to be updated ahead of the polls.
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Parents advised to remain cautious as schools feeling the impact of COVID
Parents in Cumbria are being advised to take precautions as schools feel the impact of rising COVID infection rates.
In the last two weeks alone, 203 schools or childcare settings in the county have reported positive cases, with eight primary schools either fully or partially closed due to the impact of the virus on staffing levels.
Children aged 0-4 years have seen the greatest proportional increase in infection rates of any age group during the last 7 days (118%), with primary (41%) and secondary school (52%) age children also experiencing large increases.
With free COVID-19 testing ending next week, anyone needing to take a Lateral Flow test will need to buy one from a private retailer after Friday 1 April – such as a local pharmacist.
You can find out more in our coronavirus email newsletter.
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Celebrating English Tourism Week 2022 across Allerdale
To celebrate the return of English Tourism Week on Friday 18 – Sunday 27 March 2022, Allerdale Borough Council is encouraging local residents as well as visitors from across the UK to explore the rich and varied experiences that the area has to offer.
There is a plethora of events on offer for residents and visitors throughout 2022, including the series of Taste Cumbria food festivals and the Solway Coast Cycling Festival, which are organised by the Council, as well as the like of the Keswick Mountain Festival, organised by a private company, and the much-anticipated Hadrian’s Wall 1900 Festival, which is organised by several community groups.
To celebrate the wonderful tourist attractions in the area, Allerdale Borough Council have produced a video of their latest “Perfect Day in Allerdale” competition winner.
The video showcases Charlotte, from Norwich, experiencing her idea of a perfect day in Allerdale. To celebrate her “Perfect Day”, Charlotte spent time enjoying open water swimming in Derwentwater, guiding Alpacas at the Lingholm Estate, enjoying lunch at Bassenthwaite Station, taking in the sea life at Maryport Aquarium, absorbing literary history at Wordsworth House in Cockermouth, and savouring the signature beef Wellington at Embleton Spa to end the day.
This was the second “Perfect Day” competition Allerdale Borough Council has hosted. The competition was designed to shine a spotlight on the huge array of things the area has to offer – whether its places to stay, the food and drink, or the visitor attractions which have something to offer everyone.
The “Perfect Day in Allerdale” competition will be returning in 2022, and Allerdale Borough Council will be inviting people of all ages to tell them about and potentially win their perfect day out.
Aiming to bolster the opportunities available to tourists visiting Allerdale, the council is also focusing on cycling tourism across the Borough.
As the growth in popularity of cycling and e-bikes shows no sign of slowing down, the Council is aiming to put Allerdale and the wider area firmly on the map as a word-class cycling destination by publishing a range of new cycle routes on its website and developing a toolkit for businesses which will enable them to make the most of cycling tourism. The cycle routes will be published in late Spring.
In addition to this initiative, the council has also launched even more reasons to visit the area in the spring, including a “Fishing Faces” online video series which highlights the areas stunning beaches. The Council will also be publishing a Beach Guide and a Military Trail which will be available both online and in print.
The “Fishing Faces” initiative celebrates a network of people who all play an important role in our commercial and recreational fishing industry, from the harbour masters and shrimp fisherman to the seafood sellers preparing prized Solway shellfish for home cooking and in local restaurants.
Read more on our website.
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 Cumberland Joint Committee
Local government in Cumbria is changing on 1 April 2023. Bit in preparation, things are happening now. Therefore, the first meeting of the Cumberland Joint Committee is to be held next week.
Joint Committees are responsible for the preparatory work to establish the Shadow Authorities and overseeing the implementation planning until Shadow Authorities are elected. The Joint Committees will be dissolved once the Shadow Authorities and executives for the two new councils are established.
See the agenda of the joint committee.
Find out more about the changes to local government in Cumbria.
 Use the MiPermit app to pay for parking
Use the MiPermit app to pay for parking. It can be used in most of our car parks - just download the app, and once you're all set-up you just pay when you arrive. No more queuing at the machine, or scrabbling around for change. And if you need more time for more shopping or that extra coffee, just use the app - it can even remind you when your time is due to expire and help you find the nearest car park.
Find out more on our website.
 Allerdale’s Civic Dinner raises £1,850 for local good causes
£1,850 was raised for local good causes by generous guests at Allerdale Borough Council’s Civic Dinner on Friday 18th March.
Over 90 people joined the Mayor of Allerdale, Councillor Malcolm Grainger, at the event which this year was held at the Greenhill Hotel near Wigton.
The money raised will go towards two local organisations: Cumbria’s Children’s Hospice, Jigsaw and The Great North Air Ambulance.
The event featured entertainment from Wigton-based performers, Lol & Dave, and the guest speaker for the evening was Cumbria’s Police & Crime Commissioner, Peter McCall.
In addition to the great entertainment, the Dinner featured a charity raffle and auction, where attendees placed their bids for a signed centenary shirt, a bottle of whiskey, a luxury night away in the Lake District, paintings by local artists, a bed and a leisure centre membership.
Raffle prizes for the evening were kindly donated by Carrs Flour Mill, Carrock Meats, The Greenhill Hotel, Maryport Aquarium, Honister Slate Mine, Torpenhow Cheese Farm, Keswick Launch Co., Phillip Cueto, A Benson, and N Grainger.
Auction prizes were generously provided by several local organisations and businesses including GLL, Castle Guards Farm, Sealy, New Hall Farm, Workington Reds, Member of Parliament for Workington Mark Jenkinson, and local artists, Mrs C Burns and Mrs H Munby.
Mayor of Allerdale, Councillor Malcolm Grainger, said: “I’d like to thank everyone for coming along to this year’s Civic Dinner and helping raise so much money for two very worthy causes, Jigsaw and The Great North Air Ambulance.
“I’d also like to thank Peter McCall, our fascinating guest speaker for the evening, Lol & Dave, for providing the great evening entertainment, Fluid Productions, our Auctioneer for the evening, Andrew Wright and the Greenhill Hotel.
“The event was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate Allerdale and meet people from across the area that are providing outstanding services for our residents”.
Work starts on development site in Workington...
Work has started on a scheme to bring businesses, jobs and investment into a key employment site in Workington.
The £2.3m scheme, funded through the government’s Growth Deal and by Allerdale Borough Council, will see the addition of new enabling infrastructure into land at Lillyhall to unlock 10.56 hectares of land for development. The intention is that this will then attract further investment, and make it easier for businesses to move to the site.
The work involves improving access to the site with a new roundabout as well as a service road and utilities including superfast broadband connections.
The site is owned by Allerdale Borough Council. Funding for the project comes from the Cumbria LEP who are providing £1.7m with the rest coming from the council.
By using public investment to create the necessary environment to attract businesses, the scheme will deliver over ten hectares of land being unlocked for development. It is estimated that the eventual development of the site will lead to over 180 new jobs being created, with new business space for offices, R&D as well as space for the industrial and warehousing sectors.
Cllr Mike Johnson, Leader of the Council, said: “We have a key commitment in our Council Strategy to invest to grow. This is an example of that policy in action. Therefore, I’m really pleased to see this work start on what is a key employment site in Allerdale. We have worked hard to secure the funding required for this scheme which I’ve no doubt will encourage more businesses to invest in the area bringing with it the economic benefits and jobs.”
John Coughlan, Chief Executive Officer of TSP Engineering and Cumbria LEP Board member said “Cumbria LEP was delighted to invest £1.7 million into the further development of the Lillyhall North site. This funding will open up over 10 hectares of land, which will provide the necessary sites and premises for our businesses. All areas in Cumbria, including Allerdale, need to attract new investment and businesses to help grow our economy and create employment for future generations. This site will play an important part in achieving growth, locally”.
The work is due to complete in October 2022. Any businesses interested in the site should contact Brendan Carlin, Allerdale Borough Council’s Assistant Chief Executive (Innovation and Commercial).
...and we joined Heron Foods for the formal opening of their great new-look store in Maryport
Council Leader Cllr Mike Johnson joined Heron Foods for the formal opening of their new look store in Maryport this week. He was also joined by Mark Jenkinson MP, to look round the store.
Also on hand were members of our Maryport regeneration team - the scheme was part of our plans to improve the town and was partly funded by Heron Foods, ourselves and through the money we received from our successful bid to the Heritage Action Zone money.
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 Taste Cumbria’s tastiest line-up yet!
The full line-up of events for Taste Cumbria in 2022 has been revealed – and this year the festivals have new attractions to entice entrepreneurs who want to showcase their skills.
Each of the four events this year – in Wigton, Maryport and Cockermouth – will have a new Young Entrepreneurs’ Market with free stalls for those who are just starting out. There will also be a grand Cake Off competition to allow brilliant bakers to create their best work.
Taste Cumbria festivals are the biggest and best events in the county’s foodie calendar. This year they begin in Wigton on Saturday 23 April. There will be a producers’ market and hot food court on Water Street car park, treasure hunts and a children's activity village with the Rainbow Wishes Foundation in the Market Hall.
Taste Cumbria Wigton will be followed by Taste Cumbria in Maryport on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 August.
The events in Maryport and Wigton will be followed by the flagship festival, Taste Cumbria in Cockermouth on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 September, then Taste Cumbria Christmas on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 December, also in Cockermouth.
Get those dates in your diary now.
Be cyber aware
The government has launched a new campaign to be more cyber aware, and help you not fall foul to hackers.
News in brief
Other news stories from Allerdale this week:
Executive consider our Q3 finance and performance report
Our Executive committee considered our Q3 finance and performance report this week.
Speaking at the meeting, Leader of the Council, Cllr Mike Johnson, said:
"The finance report highlighted the excellent job undertaken by officers in supporting our ambition for a financially sustainable council. We have seen unprecedented levels of funding coming in and out of the council in recent months and an enormous amount of credit must go each and every one of our officers for ensuring that the funding has been utilised swiftly and competently.
It was also particularly pleasing for me to note that our revenue budget is on target. It could have been so easy to let the pandemic affect our ability to deliver on our plans and service delivery. This simply hasn’t been the case however.
We are on track financially and as was shown in our performance report we are on track with our activity as well. It’s vitally important that we keep delivering the services that people expect of us and we keep delivering against our key priorities."
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