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Borough of Opportunity (Tuesday 09/10/07)

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WELCOME to my first column.

The purpose of this column is to let you know what is happening at YOUR council. I want share ideas and share the Council’s vision for the borough overall.  As the name suggests, I very much welcome your feedback.

It has been a busy period for the Council. I recently held the State of the Borough address which followed on from a highly successful Developers’ Summit – the aim of which was to stimulate ideas on how we can improve our borough further.

We are lucky to live in such a dynamic borough with such a rich mix of people, heritage, sporting links and culture. Our geography so close to central London and Heathrow is a real asset and one of the reasons why we have the fourth highest property prices in the UK. Our aim as a council is to unlock those high property prices and spread the benefits across the borough, rejuvenating town centres, building more affordable homes and transforming run-down areas.

Westfield is already rejuvenating much of W12, bringing real benefits including our 24-7 police pilot. We want to see more of this kind of growth.

The developers’ summit fed well into my State of the Borough presentation at the BBC. The purpose of this event was for community groups to hear the Council’s long-term vision. I chose the occasion to formally launch H&F’s ‘Borough of Opportunity’ campaign.

What does a ‘Borough of Opportunity’ mean? It means being passionate about investing in schools of choice. It means being passionate about helping people on the housing ladder of opportunity. And it means being passionate about regeneration and renewal.  

We already live in a fantastic borough but there are too many people who are left behind. Too many people who feel the ladder of opportunity is slipping away. To read a full version of the Council’s vision click here. I welcome your views and comments.

Of course creating a borough of opportunity doesn’t end there. A borough of opportunity is about keeping council tax low and providing good, value for money services. A borough of opportunity is about creating a cleaner, greener, safer borough. The launch of our Grot Spot initiative, which you will read more about in this month’s H&F News, demonstrates how we are serious about improving the environment and we much welcome your input into what needs to be done.

We already live in a great borough but together we can make a great borough even better.

Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh

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