June was one of those quiet months, which still manages to be busy, somehow. I was struggling with internet problems at home (as ever) but right at the end of the month the wonderful Council IT man did manage to get my new sim card so after 15 months I do have a fully functioning council phone and love it. Shortly after that my council laptop packed up and I’m still waiting for a new one.
The garden was struggling for lack of rain, despite my best efforts at watering. My peas and mangetout grew to a height of 8 inches before refusing to go any further and putting out their measly few pods. Delicious in their rarity! However, the courgettes and runner beans did well and are loving the July rains. So did the blackcurrants and raspberries. Upsettingly I managed to pull out half a ragwort plant (from the veg patch) before I noticed it was covered with cinnabar moth caterpillars. Thankfully the remaining half seemed to take up the slack and is now just a bare stick, and last week I saw an adult cinnabar moth in all its beautiful red and black robes.
Council-wise, we held our first Community Panel meeting which fills me with hope that we can really achieve some of the changes we’d all like to see. A large part of the meeting was about the administrative detail of setting up discussions and consultations on our priorities, and about grant-giving. However, we also discussed lessons from the defunct Cockermouth market, and a delegation from the Allonby chalet owners group came to talk to us informally about their problems with the council tax assessment. It does seem to be to be grossly unfair. Markus Campbell Savours appears to be taking a lead on this and I’m happy to let him.
Our other first was the first meeting of the Climate Advisory Group. It was held on Teams (internet) so were less satisfying than meeting people in person, and again was administrative, but we did ascertain that the climate strategies from the four legacy councils were being looked at to amalgamate into one climate strategy for Cumberland. We were reminded that our job was simply to make recommendations to the Executive. Compare and contrast our progress with that of Westmorland and Furness who declared a climate emergency in September 2022, have adopted part one of their Climate Action Plan in June and the second and final part will be adopted in December. Part 2 will be a detailed plan which will outline actions in six categories:
The Way we Live,
The Way we Work,
The Way we Travel,
The Way we use things,
The Way we Produce Energy and
The Way we Protect and Enhance Nature.
I only attended two parish council meetings in June (out of a theoretically possible three, two of which are held on the same night) but am making up for it in July with a technically possible full 13. It’s great to meet new councillors who have joined Parish Councils in May, and to see the experienced ones again. Everyone is, of course, very exercised by the bin strike and I note with interest that the unions have won their case in the courts, that using agency, strike-breaking workers is illegal. The Government says it will appeal. Allerdale Waste Services says it will abide by the law. But that brief outbreak of hope initiated by the new set of talks on the following Monday, soon dissipated as they break down again!
With my large band of helpers, we’ve been delivering the summer newsletter to the villages of Bothel and Wharrels. It’s always good to walk round the place you represent, chat to a few people, see what’s going on and stick a leaflet through doors. It takes a while but it’s worth it. All the major villages are done now, and even a few outliers.
A couple of weekends ago Cathy and I went on a super trip to Allonby and Crosscanonby to enjoy the Solway Coast Discovery Day organised by the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, to celebrate King Charles III England Coast Path in Cumbria. The display of 500 silk flags designed by artists from comments and photos from ordinary people who each adopted a mile of coastline in the east of England was absolutely amazing. We can’t wait for 2025 to come round so it’s our turn to take part in the “Beach of Dreams” project run by Kinetika. We walked from Allonby to Milefortlet 21 and met the Roman re-enactors who gave us a fascinating insight into the lives of Roman soldiers living and working in the area.
July has been amazingly busy, and the final week looks no different. August is really going to be a quieter month!!!!!!
Cllr. Jill Perry
