Councillor Tim Pickstone

The last meeting of the Border, Fellside and North Carlisle Community Panel took place on 27 March 2025. This is the meeting which brings together councillors who represent the Carlisle’s rural areas, and the north of the city, together to discuss local issues.

NHS Services in Longtown and Brampton
The main agenda item for the meeting was around health services, with a presentation from the Council’s Public Health Manager and the Cumbria Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) Health Partnerships Officer which provided an update from the Integrated Care Communities (ICC) for Brampton and Longtown.

We were told that following COVID ICCs had received funding from PCNs and welcomed this being used in Brampton and Longtown for the provision of support from the CVS Health Partnerships Officer, and that this had resulted in priority setting workshop in Longtown with local residents.

A priority for the Longtown and Brampton ICC is around tackling loneliness and isolation in all ages.

I asked a few questions from the presentation:

• I asked about people who live in Cumberland, but who are registered with Scottish GPs. This covers a wide group of people in Longtown Ward who are registered with GPs in Newcastleton, Canonbie or Gretna and therefore not covered by the Longtown and Brampton ICC. I raised the concern that we are potentially missing out on some of the initiatives available to other people in England (for example we cannot use the NHS App.) The staff agreed to look further into this and make sure that these residents are not forgotten.
• I also asked about the pressures on the Longtown Medical Practice, and whether it is now harder for local residents to get appointments with the GP, and whether capacity was adequate given house building in the town (with two more estates on their way). The staff agreed to get back to me with statistics on this issue.

Community Grants

We received a received a report which outlined the current position of the Neighbourhood Investment Fund (NIF) allocation to the Border, Fellside and North Carlisle Community Panel, and we agreed the final investments for the current financial year (2024-25).

The relevant applications for Longtown Ward were:

£4,500 from Bewcastle Parish Council towards a replacement fence around the cemetery and playing field.  The Panel noted that sheep were gaining access to the cemetery and causing distress to visitors.

The Panel noted that the Parish Council were currently carrying out work in the cemetery to improve paths and driveways and were obtaining new equipment for the playing field.  The Community Development Officer advised it had been anticipated the replacement fence would not be required imminently but this had not proved to be the case.

An application from Longtown Primary School PTA had withdrawn their investment application to purchase a bike and scooter shelter as they had secured funding from another source.

Hope that is useful. The full papers for the meeting are here. Any questions please ask!