New details about proposed Barrow Town Council revealed

A list of draft recommendations suggests the council would have 21 councillors across 11 wards.

The proposals, put together by borough councillors and council officers, are to be considered by a full meeting of the borough council on Tuesday.

The recommendations indicate the first elections to ‘Barrow Town Council’ would be held in 2023 and then every four years afterwards.

The new parish would be named ‘Barrow’ and would comprise the eleven borough council wards that fall into the unparished area of the borough: Walney North; Walney South; Barrow Island; Hindpool; Central; Ormsgill; Parkside; Risedale; Hawcoat; Newbarns; and Roosecote.

Each of these wards would have two councillors, with the exception of Barrow Island, which would have one.

The recommendations follow a period of public consultation held as part of the borough council’s community governance review.

The review was launched to assess local government in the unparished area of the borough.

The final decision on whether or not to create a town council for Barrow would be taken by the Westmorland and Furness shadow authority, which is to precede the unitary authority that will come into existence in April of next year.

The new council would cover the unparished area of the borough. Picture: Barrow Borough Council

A report produced ahead of Tuesday’s full meeting of Barrow Borough Council says: “Knowing that the new shadow authority for Westmorland and Furness would make the final decision on whether to create a town council for Barrow underlined the need for a clear mandate for the creation of a new authority to be given by the people of Barrow.”

The report advises councillors to agree to the draft recommendations and support their publication as part of a second period of public consultation.

This consultation would commence on July 25 and close on August 26.

Responses would be considered by the community governance review working group of councillors before being considered by an extraordinary meeting of the borough council in September.

If the final recommendations for a new town council were approved, they would be put to a meeting of the Westmorland and Furness shadow authority in October.