The year ahead

Hello everyone. As we start the new municipal year, it reminds me just how much has happened over the past 12 months.

However, what really matters is what happens in the year to come. And there will be a lot, believe me!

At the council, that means being even more focused on our top three priorities: improving children’s lives, tackling inequalities, and delivering inclusive and sustainable growth.

These priorities will help get our local services on a financially sustainable footing and fulfil mission to grow the borough and reduce deprivation. At the same time, we also need to do all we can to protect the day-to-day services that residents tell us are most important to them: clean and safe streets, fixing our roads and high-quality green spaces.

Doing this will not be easy. A decade of austerity has taken a great toll on local government, and we will continue to campaign for a fairer funding settlement so that Bury gets a better deal.

But we can already see the tremendous progress on our regeneration plans, from Radcliffe to Prestwich and Bury.

With more devolution on the table, we also need to keep playing our part in Greater Manchester. Whether it is fixing the NHS, improving our newly integrated public transport or giving everyone the skills they need, devolution is a huge part of the solution, and we must remain at the forefront of this agenda. Despite being the smallest borough in the GM conurbation, Bury is playing a key part in all of these important areas.

Despite these challenges, both historic and present, I think we can be confident and optimistic about our borough’s future. We are starting to see real progress on each of our priorities, and I am confident the year ahead will see even more.