New Year message from Council Leader, Councillor Colin Lambert

The Leader of Rochdale Council - Councillor Colin Lambert

2010 has certainly been an eventful and challenging year for the council, but 2011 brings a new start and I am delighted to be the Leader of Rochdale Borough Council.  I’m looking forward to the challenge, and I’m proud to have been given this opportunity to serve the residents of this borough.

Can I start by, on behalf of the council, wishing everyone a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year.

Last year saw many changes and unprecedented pressures in economic terms, with the council’s budget being squeezed as never before.  In 2011 we’re going to see less money available to us for the delivery of services locally.

I am confident that the journey of improvement we are on will allow us to continue delivering quality services to the people of the borough.  By changing the way we operate, we can meet the challenge head on. 

But we can only do this by staying in touch with the people we serve and really listening to what you tell us. Last year saw the beginning of our public consultation, where we are asking for your views on a wide range of saving proposals. This is still well underway as we still need to make big savings, but the volume of feedback so far has been encouraging and we now have a wide range of views and ideas with which to go forward into 2011, defining the type of council you want us to be and the services you see as a priority.  If you haven’t already, please have your say at www.rochdale.gov.uk/yourviews or call in to your local library or council customer service centre.  We are asking for your involvement on how we can best provide services in a very different era to the one we have been used to.

The regeneration of our borough continues in 2011, and you’ll see more physical change.  Last year brought more major development in Middleton town centre, the new Rochdale Sixth Form College and the new Heywood Sports Village.

Work is well underway on Rochdale’s new customer service centre, library and council office building and we are optimistic that the town’s new transport interchange will be next. Construction of a new leisure centre in Rochdale has also started.  Development of the town centre will continue, and we will see major investment on Kingsway Business Park.

This month we launch the annual ‘Big Clean’, working hard to improve the environment where we live and making a greener and cleaner borough.  Every year lots of you put on your winter woollies and get involved, and I know that once again we can really make a difference.  It’s a really important role we have to encourage residents, organisations and local businesses to take pride in their area through initiatives like this, so please do get involved. Before the 2 February simply tell us where you’d like to be cleaned up at www.rochdale.gov.uk/bigclean or phone 0845 226 1800.

Throughout the year we will also be improving local schools, parks, libraries and creating a safer borough.

Last year began with an extraordinary cold spell that helped us improve the way we deliver our winter maintenance plans. As 2011 begins with similarly icy weather, thankfully those lessons have been learned, but we need to keep improving and do even more.  I would like to thank the crews who work around the clock to keep this borough moving.

I would also like to thank our partner organisations and volunteers who have supported us again, and particularly council staff for all of their hard work and dedication, during a very difficult time.  Despite facing uncertain futures, the professionalism staff have shown is commendable.  The community spirit in this borough and the passion of our people never ceases to amaze me.

Yes, we have a tough year ahead in making savings that amount to more than we forecasted and we will have some difficult decisions to make, but we go into 2011 prepared and confident we can deliver the quality services you require from us.

Have a healthy and peaceful new year.