Councillor Tim Pickstone

Cumberland Council met for its full meeting on Tuesday 3 November at the Civic Centre in Carlisle. It was a long agenda, with a petition of real importance to our part of Cumberland, a Liberal Democrat motion and a number of questions from our group.

At the start of the meeting councillors recorded their thanks to the retiring Chief Executive of Cumberland Council, Andrew Seekings, who leaves at the end of the year.

Here is a summary of the main business.

Standing with Blackford and the Borders on National Grid’s plans

Council debated a petition entitled ‘Stand with Blackford, the Borders and Britain: Reject Option A’, signed by 1,143 people. It concerns National Grid’s Cross Border Connection project, and in particular Option A, which would place a new 400kV substation north of Carlisle with around 28km of new overhead line to the border and to the existing Harker substation. The alternative, Option B, would site the substation south of Carlisle with around 47km of overhead line.

The petitioners asked the Council to take active, properly resourced action now: engaging affected communities, gathering evidence on local and cumulative impacts, scrutinising Option A and the alternatives, and publishing an action plan within 28 days.

The report to Council explained that this is a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project, so the final decision rests with the Secretary of State, not the Council. National Grid now expects its next (Stage 2) consultation in 2027 and a formal application in 2028. The report recommended that Council note the position, debate the petition, and ask for a detailed report to the Planning Committee on how the Council will manage its involvement, with the relevant Community Panel consulted along the way.

Almost the entire pylon route for option A (Kershopefoot to Blackford) is in Longtown Ward, as is the proposed site of the huge substation at Whamtown (Blackford). I spoke in the debate to make clear my opposition to the proposals and calling for the Council to act immediately to support local residents (full text of speech below). The report to the Council meeting was agreed.

This matters enormously to many residents in Longtown Ward, and I will keep pressing for the Council to represent our communities as strongly as possible.

Our motion: supporting Cumberland’s Armed Forces community

I proposed a Liberal Democrat motion, seconded by my colleague Councillor Roger Dobson, on supporting Cumberland’s Armed Forces community. The Armed Forces Bill 2026 extends the Armed Forces Covenant Duty beyond housing, education and health into areas such as employment, childcare, social care and transport. The motion asked the Council to reaffirm its commitment to the Covenant, review its policies within twelve months, build the Armed Forces community into its impact assessments and reports, and report back to Full Council within a year. [CHECK: outcome of vote]

Liberal Democrat questions

Our group put four written questions to the Executive. I will post written answers at the bottom of this post when I have them

• I asked about telephone access to Council services: average waiting times, how many calls are abandoned, and whether the Executive Member is satisfied with performance.
• I asked what role the Council is playing in the options appraisal for reinstating the railway between Carlisle and Galashiels/Tweedbank, and how it is making sure the interests of Carlisle, Longtown and the wider area are reflected.
• Councillor Roger Dobson asked what representations the Council has made to Network Rail about the historic footbridge on Wetheral Viaduct.
• Councillor Chris Wills asked the Leader what is being done to improve road and rail links between Carlisle and west Cumbria.

Other councillors asked about spending on agency staff, the Council’s new finance system, family housing, illicit trading and faded road markings.

We also have the opportunity to ask verbal questions on the minutes of the Executive Committee and other items. I asked two:

• I asked about the Council’s capital programme, in particular the recommendation from the external CIPFA Report into the Council’s finances recommending that capital expenditure that was funded by unsecured borrowing be removed from the capital programme by last month. The Cabinet Member for Finance agreed to give a response in writing.
• I also asked about the delays in spending ‘Levelling up’ money (money first award when Boris Johnson was PM….), Cumberland is the 3rd worst authority in the country for the completion of schemes and I asked when these would all be completed. Again I was promised an answer in writing.

Our motion: supporting Cumberland’s Armed Forces community

I proposed a Liberal Democrat motion, seconded by my colleague Councillor Roger Dobson, on supporting Cumberland’s Armed Forces community. The Armed Forces Bill 2026 extends the Armed Forces Covenant Duty beyond housing, education and health into areas such as employment, childcare, social care and transport. The motion asked the Council to reaffirm its commitment to the Covenant, review its policies within twelve months, build the Armed Forces community into its impact assessments and reports, and report back to Full Council within a year. The motion was agreed with the support of all parties.

My speech is below:

Carlisle Lake District Airport

Council also considered a motion on securing the future of Carlisle Lake District Airport, seconded by my colleague Councillor Chris Wills, calling for the Leader to work with the airport’s owners, airlines, the Borderlands Partnership and Government to explore restoring commercial passenger flights, and to report back within six months. After an amendment from the Labour group this was agreed.

Other business

Council also received the budget monitoring reports. At Quarter 1 of 2026/27 the revenue budget showed a £1.219m adverse variance against a £373.118m net budget, and Council was asked to approve £75.671m of capital budgets being moved into 2027/28. The 2025/26 draft outturn showed a £3.830m adverse revenue variance. Council also considered the Youth Justice Plan 2026/27, the Treasury Management Annual Review, revised Council Procedure Rules from the Constitution Working Group, and the review of polling districts and polling places needed for the new ward boundaries that take effect at the elections in May 2027. All of which were agreed.

The full papers for the meeting are available here: Cumberland Council, 3 November 2026.

As ever, if you have any questions about any of this, or there is anything I can help with, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Speech on the Pylons/Substation

Petition on the Cross Border Connection (Item 7) — Speech to Cumberland Council

Chair, as the councillor for Longtown Ward, I represent almost the entire English length of the proposed pylon route — from Kershopefoot on the border, right down to Whamtown in Blackford, and potentially the link through to Harker.

And I’m lucky enough to represent Blackford itself, and have come to know the area particularly well as the local authority governor at Blackford Church of England Primary School.

Chair, I want to start by thanking the 1,143 people who signed this petition, and the petitioners for the way they have made their case and kept this issue very much at the forefront of the public mind.

Chair, for me as the ward councillor, and for the wider Liberal Democrat Group, we are very clear in our opposition to these National Grid proposals, and we will continue to campaign against this pylon route.

We are talking about 50-metre steel pylons, three to every kilometre, marching across some of the most unspoilt countryside in the north of England — somewhere which would probably be an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty if it were in Oxfordshire — and a substation the size of which this area has never seen.

Chair, of course we absolutely recognise the need to decarbonise our power supply.

But that must go hand in hand with protecting nature and our natural environment — not at its expense.

Elsewhere in the country, National Grid is moving power from Scotland to England under the sea. In other sensitive landscapes it is putting cables underground. Those options have simply not been properly explored here, and our communities deserve to know why.

Now, I understand the officers’ advice about the Council’s formal role and the risk of predetermination. But that is not a reason for the Council to sit on its hands. Nothing stops us being active, prepared and well resourced.

So, Chair, I’d urge the Council to go further than simply noting this report. I would like the Executive Member to give a commitment here today to a date for the Planning Committee report, rather than leaving it open-ended.

Let us name a lead member and a lead officer now. Let’s start gathering the evidence on landscape, heritage, farming and the cumulative impact of further reinforcement now, not in 2028. Let’s press National Grid to show exactly how it compared Option A and Option B, and why undergrounding has not been properly considered. Let’s make sure parish councils and ward members are formally part of shaping the Council’s response.

Chair, the petitioners have asked us to stand with them. We can do that, and do it in a way that makes our voice stronger, not weaker, when the decisions are made.

Speech on the armed forces motion:

Supporting Cumberland’s Armed Forces Community — Speech to Cumberland Council

Chair, it is my pleasure to move the motion on Supporting Cumberland’s Armed Forces Community on behalf of the Liberal Democrat Group, and I thank Councillor Dobson for seconding it. He will speak from very personal experience about why this matters. I want to focus on what the motion asks this Council to do.

Chair, I am lucky enough to be one of this Council’s Armed Forces Champions, and it is a role I take very seriously. This Council already has a strong record. We signed the Armed Forces Covenant in 2023, and we hold the Ministry of Defence’s Gold Employer Recognition Scheme Award. That is something every member of this chamber can be proud of.

The principle behind the Covenant is simple. Those who serve or have served, and their families, should not be disadvantaged because of that service. That covers serving personnel, reservists, veterans, families and the bereaved — and that disadvantage can arise right across the services this Council provides.

Chair, the Armed Forces Bill 2026 will extend the statutory Covenant Duty beyond housing, education and health, into areas like employment, childcare, social care and transport. Our current policies only refer to the narrower duty. This motion simply asks us to get ahead of that change, and to start thinking about how we take account of military service when delivering a wider range of our services.

It asks us to reaffirm our commitment to the Covenant. To review our policies within twelve months, whatever the timetable of the Bill. To build consideration of the Armed Forces community into our existing impact assessments, so it becomes part of how we do business. To flag significant impacts in reports to members. And for the Executive to report back to Full Council within a year.

Chair, this is about making sure that the promise we made in 2023 is reflected across everything we do — not just where the law requires it.

Chair, I hope this is a motion that can command support across the chamber, and I look forward to hearing the contributions of other members.