Welcome
A big welcome to our website which we hope you will find informative and interesting. The site is intended to provide useful information about the Parish of Irton with Santon, as well as publications and information about the Parish Council and its work please contact us if you have any questions or wish to contribute.
The website is maintained by the members of the Parish Council. We would really like this website to be the start of better communication for the whole community so if there is anything you think might be useful to add or any concerns that you feel the Parish Council should be aware of them please let us know using the contact page.
You can use the tabs on the right to find your way around our website.
ROLE OF THE PARISH COUNCIL
Parishes are the smallest areas of civil administration in England and their Town and Parish Councils provide the statutory tier of local government closest to the people. (Civil parishes should not be confused with Church of England ecclesiastical parishes and their Parochial Church Councils.)
Within Cumbria there are 268 parishes covering the whole county, except Barrow town and Walney and the central urban area of the City of Carlisle. In 2015, both Penrith and Whitehaven elected to create new civil parishes, which will be known as Town Councils. Of these 268 parishes, 233 are served by a Town or Parish Council that is elected every four years and the remainder have a Parish Meeting that is required to meet at least twice a year. In Cumbria there are three tiers of local government - the County Council, District/Borough Councils and Town/Parish Councils and Parish Meetings.
Town and Parish Councils are an essential part of the structure of local democracy and have a vital role in acting on behalf of the communities they represent.
They: give views, on behalf of the community, on planning applications and other proposals that affect the parish
undertake projects and schemes that benefit local residents
work in partnership with other bodies to achieve benefits for the parish
alert relevant authorities to problems that arise or work that needs to be undertaken
help the other tiers of local government keep in touch with their local communities.
