11 December 2008, 08/285
Christmas and New Year message from the
Leader
Can you believe that we’re almost into 2009 already! Where has
this year gone I ask myself? I can look back on 2008 though with
lots of great memories.
It was only in May this year that I took over the helm as leader
of West Lancashire District Council. I knew that coming into this
role when the authority is already rated ‘excellent’ by the
Government Audit Commission would be a challenge in itself. We are
in a difficult financial climate at the moment with less money to
spend. But I think we can start the festive season in good spirits
knowing that we are continuing to achieve value for money and
maintaining quality services.
Over the last 12 months we have enjoyed many successes that will
benefit our residents.
Tackling crime and the fear of crime is very important to
communities, so we have invested in even more new CCTV cameras. We
have worked with our partners to reduce damage incidents by 23% in
2007/08. Earlier this year we also unveiled our community safety
partnership action plan, which has a strong focus on violent crimes
and increasing community confidence.
Our waste recycling performance is better than ever with 48%
being recycled - thanks to the fantastic efforts of our residents
who prove that they care about their environment.
Housing is a big concern for local people and we are working
hard to identify new schemes for affordable housing. We’re also
investing millions in our current housing stock and residents can
even now report repair problems online 24/7 on our website.
Through exciting economic projects such as ‘Inspire’ and
‘Enterprising West Lancashire’ we created 543 jobs in 2007/08, well
above our target of 400. In difficult economic times we will strive
to retain employment in the District. We also recently celebrated
the multi million pound award-winning regeneration project in
Burscough town centre with a celebration tour.
Improving the customer experience is always one of our big
priorities and earlier this year we launched our new-look website,
which now has more services online than ever before.
We are also committed to providing leisure opportunities for all
and this will be enhanced when our partners West Lancashire
Community Leisure Trust launch free swimming for the 60s and over
at Nye Bevan Pool in Skelmersdale and Park Pool in Ormskirk in
April 2009. We have used Big Lottery funding to provide activity
opportunities for harder to reach groups including those with
disabilities and older age groups between 11 and 17 years. Our two
flagship parks - Beacon Country Park and Coronation Park - were
also given Green Flag awards, which is the ultimate accolade for
parks and green spaces. So make sure you pay them a visit over the
Christmas holidays.
Our financial settlement from the Government has shown an
increase of only 0.5% on the back of an inflation figure of close
on 5%. It will mean some difficult decisions will need to be made
next year to ensure that we can continue to deliver the quality
services at an affordable price. It may be that with the recession
that some services will not be affordable in the way they have been
delivered to date.
I could go on but the mince pies and sherry are calling! So on
that note I would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and
a happy New Year. May 2009 be another success story!
Cllr Ian Grant
Leader of West Lancashire District Council
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