Lindal and Marton Parish Council

Local Government Overview

Lindal and Marton Parish Council provides an important part of local government, together with Barrow Borough Council, and Cumbria County Council. Other Parish and Town Councils in the Barrow Borough are Askam & Ireleth Parish Council, and Dalton with Newton Town Council.

The County Council is responsible for strategic services such as highways, education, libraries, social services, strategic planning, and refuse disposal. The Borough Council is responsible for local services including housing, local planning, environmental health, and refuse collection.

The Parish Council represents the community at Parish level. It is a team of elected volunteers, working together, making decisions and producing plans for the benefit of the community. The Chairman is its leader, who ensures that the team is focussed and works effectively. The Clerk to the Council is there to administer the Council's business, and is the first point of contact for the Council. 

The Parish Council can 'precept', raising a council tax each year to improve facilities and services for local people. Its powers and duties can include the provision and maintenance of allotments, public monuments, halls, some street lighting, litter bins, rights of way, roadside verges, and bus shelters.

The Parish Council can comment on planning applications and can be represented at public inquiries. It advises the County and Borough authorities on the views of residents, and especially priorities for local investment.

Borough and Parish elections occur every four years, and in-between there may be elections to fill casual vacancies. No formal qualifications are needed, but there are rules that you need to satisfy if you are to be a Councillor.

Lindal and Marton Parish Council

Lindal and Marton Parish Council meetings are held in public, normally at the Buccleuch Hall. They are led by the Council's Chairman, and advised by the Clerk to the Council who is there to see that business is conducted within the law. All Parish Councils must meet at least four times a year, usually more often.

The Lindal and Marton Parish Council has delegated authority for the management of The Green, and has a responsibility to pass comment on local planning applications.

The Councillors represent the Parish and liaise with other organisations such as Barrow Borough Council, Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership, and Furness Greenways Steering Group.

The above map indicates the Lindal & Marton Parish boundaries. A more detailed Electoral Boundaries map can be found on the Barrow Borough Council website.

Meeting Agendas and Minutes

Agendas and minutes of Lindal and Marton Parish Council meetings are posted on the noticeboards outside the Buccleuch Hall, and near the War Memorial in Marton, and can be found on the Downloads page of this website. They are also published in the newsletter Aspects of Lindal and Marton, which is jointly sponsored by Lindal and Marton Parish Council, and St Peter's Church.

Phone boxes

In August 2008, BT launched two new schemes - adopt a kiosk, which allows a community to retain their red phone box, minus the payphone, alongside a sister, sponsor a kiosk scheme, where the community contributes towards the maintenance costs to retain the phone box and a working payphone. In March 2010, Lindal & Marton Parish Council took ownership of the two K6 type red phone boxes in the villages for use as local information points and book exchanges. They were both fitted out with bookshelves and leaflet baskets by Councillor Bob Lord.

There are more than 12,500 red telephone boxes nationwide. The first incarnation of the red phone box was designed by architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott for a competition in 1924. This design, the K2, was introduced in 1926, predominately in London. Ten years later Scott refined his design and the famous K6 or 'Jubilee Kiosk' was introduced nationwide to celebrate George V's Silver Jubilee.

The K2
Stands 9 feet 3 inches tall and sits on an area of 3 feet 6 inches square.
Weighs in at one and a quarter tons.
Made from cast iron with a hardwood door.
Has 3 sides glazed with 18 panes each of 32 oz glass.
New they cost £35.14s.0d each.

The K6
Stands at 8 feet 3 inches and sits on a base 3 feet square.
Weighs three quarters of a ton and again has a teak hardwood door.
There are 8 large panes and 16 small panes on each of the 3 sides.

Lindal May 2010	Lindal May 2010	Marton May 2010	Marton May 2010
Lindal June 2010	Lindal June 2010	Marton June 2010	Marton June 2010