PLANS are afoot for a new authority to take over the running of south Cumbria.

The councils in Morecambe Bay - South Lakeland District Council, Barrow Borough Council and Lancaster City Council have created a plan to join together as a unitary authority.

This will see the two Cumbria councils break free from Cumbria County Council control.

This week Barrow Borough Council picked up the pace by voting on the plans to become a single unitary authority.

No mention was given to how many councillors will lose their jobs or positions should the application be successful at the Barrow Borough Council’s full council meeting on Tuesday.

Cllr Ann Thomson, leader of Barrow Council proposed a motion that the council support the application for amalgamation when the opportunity arises.

She said: “Working in anticipation towards a ‘Bay Area’ partnership, means we will work jointly with the other two districts. I authorise the leader and chief executive to work with the other two authorities do develop a high-level case to make it happen, so we can submit this to Secretary of state. Then we will scrutinise it again before taking our case to the public.”

Meanwhile, Cllr Doug Rathbone who sits both on Kendal Town Council and SLDC, thinks that smaller decision making powers like planning permission may suffer in a merger but bigger plans like environmental issues may benefit from devolution.

Cllr Tony Callister from Walney North sees the merger as an opportunity to jump at.

He said: “This is a one-off chance for every member in the chamber to support to make things so much better for Barrow and the locality.

“This is one hell of an opportunity for everyone to support, as this is the best thing for a long time.”

Cllr Les Hall from Barrow’s Newbarns ward said: “this is the best opportunity we’ve had since 1981 to sort out local issues.”

County councillor James Airey, who represents Ulverston West as well as the South Lakeland District Councillor for the Furness Peninsula, said: “I think the vast majority of Cumbrian residents would agree that we have a hugely complicated and costly system of Local Government here in Cumbria.

"We need to simplify and cut costs so that residents have a one-stop-shop for all their local issues. Savings can then be spent on the frontline services.  The model that ticks all those boxes for us is a single authority.

"The county and district councils would disappear to be replaced with a single new authority."