Lots to celebrate but dark clouds are on the horizon

Hello everyone. Like many councils, Bury finds itself in the difficult position of wanting to deliver on our long-term ambitions to renew the borough but is faced with significant immediate pressures with our day-to-day budget.

But we should start with the good news at least. Reports to the council’s committees last week reveal that our long-held plans to regenerate our town centres and make the borough more prosperous are coming to fruition.

Firstly, Radcliffe. Detailed plans are now being drawn up to create an Enterprise Centre in the current Radcliffe Library. This flexible, multi-functional centre will provide private offices and bookable ‘hot desks’ to cater for 100 occupiers.

The project is an integral part of the wider Radcliffe Strategic Regeneration, aimed at delivering improvements to health, skills and employability, cultural engagement and economic recovery of the town.

Radcliffe people have long wanted to send their children to a local secondary school. Well, now they can. Applications open this month to be part of the first year’s intake when the new Radcliffe Star Academy opens next autumn.

Onto Prestwich, and the latest designs for the new Longfield Centre have just been released, bringing housing, leisure, health and business together in one popular location (see My newsdesk - Prestwich Village regeneration plans).

And on our famous Bury Market, planners have just given the green light for a new flexi-hall and new roof, which will help to maintain the market’s popularity for many years to come.

Next month, we’ll have the latest details of the proposed Mill Gate centre developments, and further news about Whitefield town centre.

It’s essential that all our ships move forward together. This week, we are launching our Economic Strategy, which sets out a clear ‘Team Bury’ approach to delivering a more sustainable, competitive, inclusive, and resilient local economy which fulfils its potential.

If only it was all good news. Another report we considered last week was the latest position on our budget. As expected, some areas of our budget are forecast to overspend, particularly those essential services for our vulnerable residents that we simply must provide.

And this encapsulates the dilemma that councils like us face. On the one hand, we must have the big plans and investment in Bury’s future, and we’re putting a huge amount of effort into this. But on the other, we are clearly struggling to fund the everyday services that people rely on without making tough decisions.

We’re constantly having to walk the thin line between the two. And, frankly, we should not have to decide between today and tomorrow. We all deserve a present and a future.