We think it’s important that those growing up, living and working in the District should be as proud of it as we are. Increasing the sense of pride that people have in their local areas is a key challenge for us.

One element of this challenge is to ensure that decisions which affect local areas are influenced by the people who live there. At our Annual General Meeting the Council chose to replace local committees for a system where every Member of the Council can engage with local community groups and be the local community champion for their patch. To assist in this we have set aside £500,000 in our Enterprising Community fund to help community and local groups take action to meet local needs.

Highlights from 2010/11

We started work to enable local community groups to step forward to take control of their village halls – giving them power to set their own rates and charges; access new funding and control and manage their own activities tailored to local needs.

We developed and ran a campaign to encourage local people to stand as councillors and to raise awareness of the role of the Councillor.

Over £70,000 was awarded to community groups to make their local areas cleaner and greener.