Cumbria’s next chapter: who gets to shape it?

As someone who has only worked within the English planning system for little over a year, I frequently find myself searching for the overarching ‘so what’ among a revolving door of speeches, proposals, draft programmes, and policy changes, writes Jasmine Whims of LUC.

However – and having due consideration of my potential naivety – I am optimistic that the recent proposed shake-ups to planning across England may yield very positive change.

I am especially hopeful about the implications for the parts of the country that are more overlooked or left behind from a national perspective. That was one of my primary takeaways after attending Place North West’s Cumbria Development Update in Kendal earlier this year. The event brought together developers, local authorities, planners and policymakers to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the region. We also bore witness to the first hustings from the three declared candidates for mayor of Cumbria, necessarily underscoring the strong relationship between planning and politics.

There was plenty of talk about investment, housing, transport and governance. But what emerged for me were two questions that underpin all of our favourite planning talking points: how do places change without losing the qualities that make them worth living in to begin with, and who gets to decide when, where, and how that change happens?

Cumbria is certainly an appropriate geographical, economic, social and political context within which to consider potential answers.

More than coasts, mountains, and lakes

Cumbria has no shortage of assets. It contains some of the country’s most celebrated landscapes, distinctive townscapes and internationally recognised destinations – but there is much more to Cumbria than its tourist draw. Over 500,000 people call it home. There is a long and rich agricultural history of sheep hefting and cattle husbandry. And it stands at the forefront of the country’s nuclear operations, with the Energy Coast stretching from Port of Workington to BAE Systems’ facility in Barrow-in-Furness.

Cumbria also faces challenges familiar to many other rural and coastal areas in England. Away from the national links of the West Coast Mainline and M6 corridor, there are limited and unreliable transport connections that restrict opportunities. Younger people often leave in search of education, careers or housing. Town centres work hard to compete for footfall and long-term investment.

None of these issues are unique to Cumbria. What is unique is the context in which they play out. The region’s landscape and heritage character is not simply background scenery. They are fundamental to its identity, economy and appeal – which also lends itself to constant tension. Communities need new homes, jobs and investment, but many also raise valid concerns about what could be lost along the way.

Local change, local voices

New development becomes contentious when communities feel disconnected from the processes that are shaping decisions about the places where they live. One thing I’ve noticed on both sides of the Atlantic is that people often feel that change happens to them rather than with them.

That absence of agency is a gap that can be filled with purposeful and genuine engagement. Engagement is often dismissed as a bureaucratic, tick-box exercise, but at its best it serves a much more important purpose. It creates space for local knowledge, local priorities and local aspirations to emerge. It helps ensure that planning is not simply delivering growth but delivering the right kind of growth for the people who will live with the outcomes.

I’ve seen that principle reflected in some of the work we’re undertaking across Cumbria. Throughout the production of Design Codes for Lake District National Park (adopted 2023) and Westmorland and Furness Council (adopted 2026), we consulted with partners and communities to develop guidance that supports future development while recognising the distinctive character of the places it will affect. The objective is not to prevent change. It’s to help ensure that change responds to local identity rather than eroding it.

(D)evolving planning powers

Having a professional background from the United States, I’ve been quite confronted by the stark contrast in planning structures between our two nations. In England, planning operates within a national framework that sets out unifying policy for the development of plans and the determination of proposals across the country. In America, the system is much more localised and varies across state lines.

There are advantages to both approaches. National policy can provide consistency and relative certainty. But it also makes it harder to respond to the specific circumstances of places that do not fit a standard mould. This is a critical issue which the shifting landscape of devolution and local government reorganisation is attempting to rectify.

One of the recurring themes at the Development Update was the role that these changes could play in shaping Cumbria’s future. The creation of combined authorities and spatial development strategies offers an opportunity to think beyond individual local authority boundaries and address challenges at a scale that better reflects how places actually function. New mayors will be responsible for navigating their devolved powers in a way that meaningfully represents the communities they govern – what will they prioritise? Does democratic appointment gift mayors with enough licence to go forward making funding decisions on infrastructure, housing and local economy without further consultation with the voting public?

Cumbria looks ahead

What I learned in Kendal is that there are passionate, clever people with plans for change in Cumbria. What I learned from my work with LUC is that there are passionate, clever people who want to preserve what makes Cumbria special. Growth and character are frequently presented as competing interests, but they do not have to be.

The discussions at Place North West‘s event left me hopeful, precisely because so many people are thinking holistically about Cumbria’s challenges. The conversation was not simply about building more or growing faster. It was about how Cumbria can evolve in a way that benefits future generations while remaining recognisably itself.

The next chapter for Cumbria will inevitably bring change. The more interesting question is: who gets to shape it?

• Jasmine Whims is a consultant planner at LUC