About Above Derwent Parish Council

Parish Council

Above Derwent Parish Council serves the residents of Braithwaite, Portinscale, Thornthwaite, Beck Wythop and the Newlands Valley. The full complement of the Council is 11 members, but there is currently one vacancy. The Council is served by the Parish Clerk Jean Airey. There are no subdivisions (wards) in the Parish, so each councillor serves the whole community. The Chairman of the Council is Mr Joe Bennett.

General correspondence to the Council should be sent to the Clerk. Email contact may also be made with individual councillors via this web site. Council Meetings are held at six-weekly intervals in a number of locations spread across the Parish. Notices of meetings are put up on the public noticeboards in Portinscale, Braithwaite and Thornthwaite. There is also a calendar of meetings on this site. Meetings start at 7.15. Minutes of Meetings are available for inspection in the Village Shops in Braithwaite and Portinscale, and are also available for download.

Members of the public are made welcome at Council Meetings. A time is made available shortly after the beginning of the meeting for them, at the discretion of the Chairman, to address the meeting.

Matters which have recently been of concern to the Council include the problem of speeding along the minor road linking Braithwaite and Thornthwaite, the possibility of a greater volume of traffic going through The Narrows in Braithwaite Village on account of increased activity in Whinlatter Forest, school children having to wait for the School Bus with no shelter or hard-standing, and the serious congestion caused by visitor parking at the foot of Catbells.

The Member of Allerdale District Council for the ward in which the parish is situated is Tim Heslop, and the Cumbria County Council Member is Elizabeth Barraclough.