Westmorland and Furness Council has launched a major governance review of Penrith Town Council — and wants to know what the public thinks.
The first stage of the Community Governance Review (CGR) opened this week, asking residents across the district for their views on the town and parish councils — including whether they still reflect local needs and remain fit for purpose.
Councillors were told at a recent meeting that the review is needed to bring local councils into alignment, reflect community changes, and ensure they continue to serve residents effectively.
A Westmorland and Furness Council spokesperson said:
“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, they have not been reviewed in a number of years.”
The spokesperson added:
“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 elections in May 2027.”
The first consultation stage — open until 8 December 2025 — allows people to put forward ideas for changes to community governance. Feedback from this phase will be used to draw up draft recommendations, which will go out for further consultation in early 2026.
The review will examine parish boundaries, warding arrangements, the number of councillors, council names, and even whether parish councils should be merged, split or created.
That could mean significant change for Penrith — with the town council potentially replaced by several smaller parish councils covering areas such as Castletown and Carleton.
A cross-party working group has been set up to oversee the review, made up of the leaders of the four political groups on Westmorland and Furness Council and one additional representative from each.
The final decisions will rest with the Full Council, which is expected to sign off the outcomes by July 2026. Any reorganisation orders would be made by September 2026, ahead of implementation for the May 2027 local elections.
You can have your say on the future of the town council via: https://goto.penrith.town/Community-Governance-Review-consultation
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