Remembering those who kept us free

Hello everyone. Many of us will, next weekend, be taking part in parades, services and wreath-laying ceremonies across the borough to mark Remembrance Sunday.

Events have been planned for Bury, Prestwich, Radcliffe, Ramsbottom, Tottington, Unsworth, Walshaw, and Whitefield, while Armistice Day includes a short ceremony in Gallipoli Garden, outside the Fusilier Museum.

This year, there will be an additional event for local people to come together – Bury Remembers, an evening of music and spoken word.

It takes place on Tuesday 4 November at Bury Parish Church, from 7pm to 8.15pm (doors open at 6.30pm). There will be performances from Bury Fire Choir, Bury Music Service, Bury Army Cadet Force Corps of Drums, and input from Bury Youth Service.

It’s essential that we never forget those who made the ultimate sacrifice to keep our country safe. For a full list of services, see Remembrance events across the borough.

Onto council business, and we’ll be debating some very important items at our cabinet meeting on Wednesday (5 Nov).

The major topic is the latest development on plans to transform Bury’s economy and create thousands of jobs at the Northern Gateway.

We’ll be looking at how the necessary transport infrastructure can be provided to unlock the full potential of the site, and also endorsing a Social Value Strategy and Delivery Plan for the site, which will maximise the benefits for local communities and businesses.

Make no mistake – this is an absolute game-changer, and crucial to our ambitions to boost our economy and create thousands of good quality jobs – we really are talking about a generation of job creation.

It will help us reach our goals of achieving faster economic growth than the national average, with lower than national average levels of deprivation through the development of employment space to enable job creation and upskilling of residents, leading to economic growth.

On a lighter note, it was a pleasure to welcome Cillian O'Kelly, the new Consul General of Ireland, to Bury Town Hall.

We had discussions about the work of the Consulate, supporting the Irish diaspora and organisations across the North of England, of which Bury and GM has plenty. This also connects to the work supporting business and trade between Ireland and UK, and also potentially the Northern Gateway.

Photo caption: Cillian O'Kelly, the new Consul General of Ireland, pays us a visit.