Adieu to 2022
Hello everyone, and I think it's fair to say that this year will live in the memory more than most.
We began with the fight against COVID, headed into a dreadful war in Ukraine, and an internal battle at government level which has given us three Prime Ministers in as many months.
As the year ends, the struggle for many people is to put food on the table and turn on the heating. Bills have gone through the roof, and this calamitous cost of living crisis means that a lot of people will have a bleak house instead of a Christmas carol.
Our mission is to remain ambitious, despite these challenges, and keep our focus on making positive steps forward with our plans.
This year, we've pulled this together through the three Rs: response, recovery, renewal.
As part of our response to rising costs, we've continued to provide free school meals to our children over the holidays, along with vouchers to help parents buy school uniforms. Our latest round of grants includes help with fuel bills for residents who rely on medical equipment at home.
During the year we distributed many millions of pounds to local companies to help them recover from the pandemic, including to firms who did not qualify under Government assistance rules.
And, when it comes to renewal, we won both bids for Levelling Up monies from the Government - the only district in Greater Manchester to do so. Come 2023, we'll be going full steam ahead to regenerate our town centres in Bury, Radcliffe and Prestwich.
And there will be a lot to do in the New Year. Our first task is to balance the budget which, thanks to a decade of austerity, means finding £29 million of cuts.
We will also have a new chief executive of the council, when Lynne Ridsdale takes up her post. She'll not just be leading council services but also the local NHS. Again, Bury has been ahead of the field by formally bringing together local health and care services. As the current problems with hospital discharges show, these two are inextricably linked, and both must be properly funded.
As part of regeneration, we've been ensuring that new homes are being built on a number of brownfield sites across the borough, helping families to get on the housing ladder and bringing derelict sites back into use.
And, as a Real Living Wage employer, some of the lowest paid people in Bury will get a pay rise, particularly those who work in social care.
As we look back on 2022, every family will remember loved ones who are no longer with us. Our grateful thanks go to staff and volunteers who administered the COVID vaccination programme, and ensured that the death toll was not even higher.
Bury, as a proud military town, will remember Colonel Eric Davidson. November's poignant Remembrance Sunday parades were the first without him for decades, and he will be much missed.
The country as a whole mourned the death of the Queen. Her Majesty visited Bury on several occasions, opening both Bury Town Hall and the Metrolink.
All things must pass, so let's say goodbye to 2022 and look forward to a new future for Bury. If we all work together, we can make our borough the best place to call home.