People have a say on 20-year development plan for Longtown

A summit was held in Longtown last week to support the development of a place plan for the town.

A total of 65 delegates from private, public and third sector organisations attended the event which aimed to establish the action the community would like to see from the council to improve the town.

This follows on from a series of workshops earlier in the year where all residents and businesses of Longtown were invited to give their opinions on what the area needed to improve. The stakeholder summit sought to build upon the ideas that emerged in these sessions.

Leader of Carlisle City Council, Cllr John Mallinson said: “The stakeholder summit aimed to bring together organisations and individuals from a wide range of backgrounds to look at how they can get involved in the Longtown Place Plan.

“The stakeholders heard a presentation by members of the newly formed Longtown Development Team, the community group responsible for the Place Plan.

"This included presentations from the development team’s youth representatives who provided insight on how the group was engaging with youth issues.

"Feedback has highlighted that it was a great success and I’d like to thank everyone that took the time to attend and contribute to the day.”

Stakeholders were taken for a tour of Longtown and asked to evaluate it.

One person who attended the session said: “The event had a great turn out and the positive energy in the room was palpable…. bodes well for the development of a truly community-led place plan”.

Another respondent said: “Had a brilliant day today, thank you so much for the opportunity to get involved in something this important! It’s amazing to feel like I’m playing a role in making decisions and plans for the community.”

The summit is expected to result in the production of a 20-year plan for Longtown by the end of 2022.

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