Mayor of Penrith’s Christmas Message.
As the festive season approaches once again, I want to extend my warmest wishes for a Merry Christmas and a peaceful, healthy, and prosperous New Year to all Penrith residents and their families.
Penrith’s strong sense of community has always had a lasting impression on not only me, but everyone who works, lives and visits the town, and Christmas provides a wonderful opportunity for us to come together once again in kindness and support for one another. Whether it’s spending time with loved ones, donating to local food banks or charities, shopping locally, or simply checking in on neighbours to ensure they’re okay, let’s make this festive period one of generosity and care.
The festive season also offers an opportunity for self-reflection over the past year – a year in which I am especially proud of how the Council has collaborated with every corner of our community to achieve meaningful and positive outcomes for the town.
Since April, the Council has awarded nearly £40,000 of grant funding as part of its Community and Signature Grants Schemes to fifteen organisations. This covers a range of projects, delivering tangible benefit for the people of Penrith. It has been my pleasure to meet with many of these organisations over the course of the year, to see first hand the positive impact our grant funding is enabling.
Excitingly, the Council has also announced a new £90,000 fund for play areas in Penrith – with projects in Carleton and Pategill already being backed through this new fund. Whilst many of these play areas are not in our direct ownership, the Council recognises the importance of having play areas which are fun, safe, and inclusive, so I look forward to seeing lots of projects coming forward during this term of council, with Carleton and Pategill already leading the way!
This year has also seen the Council take on the May Day Carnival Event, after forty fantastic years from the Lions Club of Penrith. This presents the Council with a great opportunity to do things differently, whilst delivering that same community feel of the event we know and love. I look forward to being able to share more with you all in the coming weeks about this exciting event for the town.
In March, the Council agreed a renewed Climate Strategy, and I am glad to see how much progress is already being made on lots of our pledges throughout the year.
In October, we had the unveiling of the iconic Paddington Bear statue on Little Dockray which has already brought so much positivity to the town, along with a surprising variety of visitors that I know of from Newcastle, Lancashire and beyond! The Council partnered with the Penrith Business Improvement District and Westmorland & Furness Council to help bring the Paddington statue to Penrith, whilst also offering one of the Council benches for him to sit on.
Finally, in November, we had the fantastic news of the positive vote for the Penrith Neighbourhood Development Plan. The positive vote was the culmination of all the hard work put in by officers, councillors and many neighbourhood groups and organisations, to ensure that Penrith people were heard. The Penrith Neighbourhood Development Plan will now be considered by Westmorland & Furness Council when they discuss any planning applications in Penrith, helping us to realise Penrith’s potential.
I also anticipate further progress in 2025 for taking ownership of assets in Penrith that are currently owned by Westmorland and Furness Council. I look forward to working with them to achieve effective asset transfer and ultimately what’s best for Penrith.
Thank you to my fellow councillors for bestowing me the honour of being
Mayor of this great town and Chair of Penrith Town Council - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our residents!
Doug Lawson, Chair of Penrith Town Council & Mayor of Penrith.
Disclaimer: This Christmas message is published in its entirety as issued by the Penrith Mayor. All comments and facts contained in this article are those made by the mayor in his Christmas message and have not been checked.
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