It’s impossible not to wonder sometimes how serious we are about the future growth of Cumbria, as an economy, a tourist destination and a great place to live.

Sure, we’re good at talking about all of those things. Lord knows, we can talk the hind legs off a seminar-attending donkey for as long as we still have breath. And even when we run out of puff, there’s always a petition to fall back on.

But when push comes to shove and that stubborn donkey has to move forward… well, we’re not too great at the pushing bit are we?

Cumbria’s difficulties are well recorded. We need more investment, more jobs, a vastly improved infrastructure, decent transport links, affordable housing, tourists with loaded cash cards. And we want all of the above with no discernible change to our own lives. There’s the continuing contradiction.

Perhaps that’s fair enough. No thank-you is always an option when change is up for discussion. And let’s be honest there are plenty here who have a nice carry-on. They’ve every right to want to protect it.


Anne Pickles If you were comfortable and happy in a small rural village you’d chosen as your home, wouldn’t you be out with banners of protest when plans for additional housing – affordable or not – threatened to alter its character?

If you’ve always been happy with Carlisle’s border town mentality, why would you choose automatically to buy into distant dreams of a great, progressive northern powerhouse city? It ain’t going to happen anyhow. Not when we can’t even decide on a pedestrian crossing.

And tourists. Well, they’ll come anyway. Cumbria, as a branded destination, is unbeatable. Word of mouth does the hard work of selling. Has done for generations.

Mind you, how many visitors will want to gaze upon building sites, as they wander the countryside in search of nature’s promised tranquillity, is anybody’s guess.

So, change or no change for Cumbria? That’s the question. It’s one we should think about seriously.

Ian Stephens has decided to step down as Cumbria’s tourism chief. He feels he needs a change – and more travel perhaps? There is, though, a tone of frustration in his explanation of intent. Funding for tourism’s promotion has been decimated and he sounds as if he might be wondering how seriously Cumbrians and their umpteen councils regard the county’s dependence on visitor spending. He wouldn’t be alone in that thinking.

How interested are any of us in the important challenges and potential further pitfalls facing the county? The answer would seem to be, not very. At least not if we’re content, relatively well off and counting the blessings of comfy little lives and lovely landscapes.

But if you’re in need of a home, which you won’t get unless you have a job and if jobs grow scarcer as shrinkage becomes the inevitable result of no change, you’ll probably think differently – and wonder who is speaking up for you.

So, where do we go from here? Do we opt for no change and slide gently into an ever more insular community of 1950s folk? Or do we bite the bullet and drag ourselves into the 21st century, accepting of the differences growth will bring?

It’s a serious question. One that is talked about endlessly. But don’t expect the answer to come in a hurry. It never does in Cumbria. Maybe it never will – since we still have to decide whether we want to cross the road.