About Kendal Town Council

Kendal Town Council is the first, or parish tier of Local Government for Kendal. The town is also served by South Lakeland District Council and Cumbria County Council. The different councils have differing  roles, and you can see an indication of who does what here. In July 2021 the Secretary of State announced that he will bring forward legislation towards the end of 2021 to replace Cumbria County Council and South Lakeland District Council with a new unitary authority in 2023. This change will not affect the Town Council directly, but may lead to alterations in who delivers what service in due course.

There are ten electoral wards within Kendal and up to four councillors are elected for each ward. Councillors are elected for a term of four years. Town Councillors are unpaid public servants and the 28 councillors of Kendal meet together up to eight times a year. Most of the Council’s business is conducted through Committees, and you can see the activities of these committees here.

The Mayor for 2021-2022 is Councillor Doug Rathbone. The Deputy Mayor is Councillor Julia Dunlop.

Kendal Town Council hosts a number of Civic events throughout the year including:

Mayor Making – usually held on the third Thursday in May.

Mayor’s Sunday – usually held on the first Sunday in July.

Remembrance Sunday – held on the second Sunday in November.

The Council usually hosts a Civic Reception in the Town Hall on the during Kendal Torchlight Carnival.

Among the guests at Civic events will be dignatories from around the county, and often visitors from our twinned towns of Rinteln (Germany) and Killarney (Republic of Ireland).