Why we’re holding a review
We're under a duty to keep parish governance arrangements under review. We do this through Community Governance Reviews, or CGRs. The former district councils carried out previous CGRs and, in some cases, have not been reviewed in a number of years.
Now that the Local Government Boundary Commission for England has completed its warding review, we're holding a CGR across the whole of Westmorland and Furness. We're conducting the CGR now to ensure that any changes come into effect before the next scheduled parish and town collections, in May 2027.
The first stage of consultation
We've started the first consultation stage of the review. You can read more information about this in the:
The first consultation stage is an opportunity for consultees to propose changes in community governance. This applies to parish areas across Westmorland and Furness.
The first stage of the consultation is open for responses until 8 December 2025.
We'll use the information we receive during this stage to develop recommendations. We'll then go out for further consultation on our draft recommendations. Everyone will have an opportunity to comment on draft recommendations. This will take place at the next stage of the review, in early 2026.
What are we consulting on?
A CGR will look at
- external parish boundaries
- warding arrangements within parishes
- the number of councillors
- the name of parish councils or wards
- grouping, merging or creating parish councils
How to respond to the review
You can respond to the consultation, send proposals and documents by:
- completing a short form online, which has an option to upload documents
- by post: Electoral Services, South Lakeland House, Lowther Street, Kendal, LA9 4DQ
- by email: elections3@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk
The first consultation window closes on 8 December 2025 - we must receive your response by then.
The next stage of the review
We'll make our recommendations to full council after 8 December 2025 and publish a link to these recommendations after this date. If full council approves the recommendations, we'll begin a second consultation stage.
You'll be able to find details on this page throughout the CGR.
Previous Community Governance Reviews
We conducted a limited CGR in 2025 to bring local election dates into line. This has now been completed
A limited CGR to consult on bringing local election dates into line was conducted in 2025. This has now been completed.
Read the council meeting minutes (24 July 2025) relating to this CGR.