Last Thursday was momentous for Cumbria.

The local elections marked the end of Barrow Borough Council, South Lakeland District Council, Eden Council and Cumbria County Council.

In its place will come the new Westmorland and Furness Council.

A layer of Government has been removed, and decisions about the communities that you live in should now take place closer to home.

The new Council has a year to bed in, and then it will take over from those in place now.

This change has been a long time coming and talked about for decades.

While we can quibble about the geography of the new Council (and believe you me, I have), it should result in cheaper and better local government and pave the way for Cumbria to have the same sort of powers that places like the Tees Valley do - allowing better strategic decision-making and making it easier for us to attract dynamic new businesses and invest in game-changing infrastructure projects.

And so these elections really mattered because those who were elected will set the tone for the future - there won’t be any more elections for another 5 years (“phew,” I hear you gasp).

So it was very disappointing to see turnout so low.

In Barrow it averaged around 25%, and although higher in Westmorland, it still wasn’t averaging anywhere near 50%.

This baffles me because local government really matters.

Probably two thirds of all the casework I get is effectively about issues that local government manage - whether the state of the streets, potholes, litter, lighting, local bus services, social care, housing, children’s services… the list goes on and on.

An effective councillor is worth their weight in gold and I really hope that the new council will show that to people.

(I do realise that I’m preaching to the choir by writing this in the politics column of the local paper!) I look forward to working with our existing councillors for the next 12 months, and with our new one as it gets ready to launch.

In the meantime, life goes on for both Councillors and myself.

On Saturday I held my weekly surgery at my office in Cavendish Street, covering issues as complex and varied as probate law, the war in Ukraine, supporting the Roxy in Ulverston, and blacklisting.

Should you ever need help on an issue, please do get in touch with my office to arrange an appointment.

Afterwards, I drove to Rampside to meet a community group concerned about an upcoming planning application and to hear their views.

I was joined by two excellent Councillors, Derek Gawne and Jay Zaccarini.

As if to prove my earlier point, planning is a devolved issue and Barrow Council - and those councillors on the planning committee - are the ultimate arbiters of what can and can’t be built or extended where. I will stop now!

Finally, following the excitement of the local government elections, Parliament returns on Tuesday for the Queen’s Speech - this will set the legislative agenda for the next parliamentary term.

We passed 19 Acts of Law in the last Parliament - I’m looking forward to hearing your views on what comes up in this next session.

Simon Fell

Member of Parliament for Barrow and Furness

www.simonfell.org