Welcome to the home page of Borrowdale Parish Council.
Borrowdale is the valley of the river Derwent that rises at the northern end of the Scafell range, in the centre of the English Lake District national park, and flows north.
The parish includes the villages Seatoller, Stonethwaite, Rosthwaite and Grange, the hamlets Seathwaite and Watendlath, and most of Derwentwater. It extends to the outskirts of Keswick.
(Our masthead photo, looking south from Castlehead in Keswick, is almost entirely of Borrowdale.)
Date of next meeting: Wednesday 27th January 2010
All are welcome to come
Fingerpost Restoration
Terry Moore has done an excellent job restoring these lovely antique signs for us.
Due to their solid construction they should now have a much longer life than moderm replacements would have had.
This is how they looked at the beginning of 2009. They date back to about the 1920's or 1930's, didn't look as though they had been maintained in all that time.
We carried out this project thanks to prompting and a generous donation from James Pearson who has a long connection with Seatoller, and generous donations from Friends of the Lake District, Keswick Neighbourhood Forum, Seatoller House who own the paddock containing the Seatoller post, and Borrowdale Gates Hotel.
Council Vacancies
We would like to co-opt another councilor to make up our numbers. This is a small parish, and sadly with the drop in population, and increase in holiday homes it is becoming harder to find councilors. Help us to keep representing Borrowdale residents. We meet every other month and not much time is required. If you think you can help please contact the clerk or any councilor.
What do we do?
We represent the views of the people of Borrowdale to Allerdale Borough Council, Cumbria County Council, and the National Park Authority. Much of our business is mundane, trying to get potholes fixed and verges cut etc.
We also comment on planning applications, trying to find the right balance between allowing development and preserving the landscape and architecture of one of the most beautiful and well loved parishes in England.
Parish Councils are the lowest tier of local government. They represent the electorate of a civil parish. They must conform to strict government codes of conduct about openness, probity, record keeping etc. (They are not to be confused with Parochial Church Councils, which are part of the church of England.)
Borrowdale Weather
The MET Office tells us that Borrowdale is the wettest inhabited valley in Britain. So its not surprising that our County Council sometimes get tired of us telling them that the culverts are blocked and the road is flooded yet again!