THOSE of you reading this who live in the part of Cumbria covered by South Lakeland District Council have an election today.

Actually, I am pretty sure most of you already know this. Depending on where you live you will have seen quite a bit of paper through your door telling you about the various parties and their candidates.

Quite a few of you will even have had your tea interrupted by one candidate or another knocking on your door to see if they can count on your support.

Our local parties all put a lot of effort into trying to win as many seats on the council as they can.

That’s because they believe that running the council really matters and to be honest they are right.

Our district councils in Cumbria have control over a lot of important issues ranging from housing to rubbish collection to parking.

These are issues that touch us all in some way or another, whether it's people moving away because they can’t afford anywhere to live around here, the shocking impact plastic is having on our oceans or people parking up on the pavement outside your house. It all has an impact. And you can add to that the work the councils do to boost our economy by attracting businesses into the area or supporting those that are already here, helping to keep our jobs safe and provide work for our children.

It is all important.

When I’m out knocking on doors, of course I meet people who say they won’t be voting because “all politicians are the same” or because “nothing changes”. And while I respect everyone’s right to decide whether they will vote and who they will vote for, I’m afraid this response does depress me because I know it simply isn’t true.

The councillors I know are dedicated people who work hard to get the best for the area they represent, often turning up at meetings in the evening and making themselves available to people to chat to about the issues that matter to them. For this they get very little reward and frequently no thanks at all. And the parties all have very different priorities in terms of what they want to achieve if they are put in charge.

The trouble with not voting is that you are simply handing over the decision about who is going to be in charge of your council to the people who do vote. So, before you decide not to vote, have a look around your town or village and have a think about who you think always makes the effort to vote and how likely it is that they share the same views as you on the issues that matter to you.

So please, whoever you vote for, do get out and vote. Today is your chance to make a real impact on some important issues in this area.