A Morecambe Bay Unitary has been suggested a couple of times in the past, first in the Redcliffe-Maud report on local government reorganisation, and revived later with the proposal for a North West Assembly.
Morecambe Bay forms an obvious unit for local governance. Geographically, it is bounded on one side by hills (the Forest of Bowland, the Yorkshire Dales, and the Lake District) and by the sea on the other.
Healthwise, it is covered by a single NHS trust, so it is logical to have social care also covered by a single body overseeing the same area.
Infrastructure wise, there is a railway line running the entire length of the Bay, from Heysham to Barrow, and direct trains are possible from Lancaster to Kendal (however, not from Barrow to Kendal). The A683, M6, and A590 provide a similar connection for roads.
As far as size is concerned, at a population of 315,000 it would be above the governments requirement of 300,000.
Two tier government is going away in England. It is likely at some point in the future that Lancashire and Cumbria will be required to reform into Unitary Authorities, and for Lancaster the most obvious authorities to join with are the others on Morecambe Bay. We should start considering this now.
On reaching 500 signatures a full Council debate will be held.
This ePetition ran from 07/10/2019 to 07/01/2020 and has now finished.
2 people signed this ePetition.