It was supposed to be a ten-minute formality — but an extraordinary meeting of Penrith Town Council held this afternoon (Monday 3rd November) turned into half an hour of muddle, maths, and mild mayhem as councillors debated how many of them there should actually be.
The meeting turned into a scene worthy of “The Vicar of Dibley” as councillors ended up voting to give themselves more seats after a lively and often baffling debate.
The meeting was held to agree the council’s response to Westmorland and Furness Council’s ongoing Governance Review, which is looking at whether the town council’s current structure is still fit for purpose.
The Town Council had originally proposed reducing the number of councillors in some wards and increasing in others to even things out.
But when discussion began on Monday afternoon, councillors from the wards set to lose representatives made their voices heard — and the debate quickly descended into confusion, with amendments, counter-amendments, and plenty of head-scratching moments.
The meeting, chaired by Cllr Val Bowen, began with the usual calm welcomes. But that calm soon gave way to what can only be described as chaos as members tried to agree the council’s response to the review.
The review had proposed shifting councillor numbers across Penrith’s six wards — reducing seats in some and adding in others. But when it became clear that some wards would lose councillors, confusion, eye-rolls, and calculators came out.
“I’ve just done some quick maths,” said one councillor, “and West will end up with more electors per councillor than anywhere else!”
Another fired back that, “North needs five – all the growth is happening there,” citing new housing developments already under way.
As the debate bounced around the room, suggestions flew thick and fast: add one here, take one there, split Penrith North in two, or even ask for extra councillors altogether.
“We used to have nineteen, and we couldn’t fill them!” one long-serving member reminded colleagues, prompting laughter around the chamber.
“I hear the sounds of vested interests being raised!” quipped the Chair, Cllr Bowen, who later sighed, “We were supposed to spend ten minutes on this!”
“We’re just trying to future-proof this,” said another councillor. “The population’s growing, and with only two councils now, we need the numbers to represent people properly.”
At one point, the confusion even led to one councillor accidentally referring to Penrith as a city, prompting the Chair to joke, “City! I know we've got illusions of grandeur, but city is going some.”
Finally, after all the back-and-forth — and a show of hands that took two attempts to count — the council agreed to ask Westmorland and Furness Council for two additional town councillors, raising the total from the current 15 to 17.
If approved as part of the governance review, the changes would take effect at the May 2027 Town Council elections, giving:
Penrith North – 5 councillors
Carleton – 3
Penrith East – 3
Penrith West – 3
Penrith South – 2
Pategill – 1
The council then swiftly voted to exclude the press and public for a private session to discuss a contract for new town-centre signage, citing “legal and contractual reasons.”
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