Monday 16 January 2012

A very Happy New Year to you all, although it almost seems too late to say that as it feels a long time since the New Year was rung in!

We always said that 2012 would be a busy and exciting year and even though we’re only 16 days into the year this certainly seems to be the case.

Just last week, we met with all the towns that will have the Olympic Torch visiting them in either May or July and we heard about their initial plans and ideas. We were overwhelmed by the volume of activity being planned and the enthusiasm to use both the Olympic Torch route and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee as a real opportunity to bring communities together to celebrate and showcase what makes them unique and special. We are coordinating all these events and activities and it looks as though from May to August Wiltshire will be both celebrating in communities and together as a county at the big events planned in Salisbury.

This year is an opportunity for us to help these communities to celebrate, making it easy and safe and helping to showcase the talent and diversity that makes Wiltshire so special. Today we launch “Shine 4 Wiltshire”; where local bands, orchestras, choirs, entertainers and dance groups who live in Wiltshire have been invited to link to a YouTube video displaying their talent. The performance must be suitable for a family audience.

Entries will be placed on the council’s 2012 Celebration Facebook page, following the deadline of 26 February, for people to view and vote for their favorites. The act with the most votes will perform alongside a national headline that the Olympics Committee (LOCOG) will stage on the 11 July in Hudson’s Field in Salisbury. The headline act will be announced on 14 February, so I will update you all as soon as we know!

Cabinet meets tomorrow (17 January) and we will be considering the proposal to open a new customer access centre in Devizes – similar to the one on Milford Street in Salisbury. This will be easier for our customers and will help to increase the footfall in the town centre and hopefully help to boost the local economy. We will also consider closing our offices at Browfort, Bradley Road and Urchfont Manor. These closures are part of a huge programme to reduce our number of buildings and offices and save £750,000 each year, which can be reinvested into our key front line services.

Cabinet will also consider the Core Strategy at its meeting. This vital document sets out the council’s plans for development of housing and employment for the future and in particular sets out how our market towns will change and grow. I anticipate that we will have a lot of public attending for this discussion, including developers who have a vested interest in where we are planning future development.

I am really looking forward to seeing some of you this week, as we have the last managers' forum and the first of many staff forums that are scheduled for this month. The forums are an opportunity to meet the new leadership team and to hear the plans and priorities for the council both in the immediate future and longer term. Lots of questions and ideas were raised at the managers' forums which were held before Christmas, and I know that the team is looking at implementing some of the ideas. Your ideas are so important as we continually need to improve and deliver what’s right for the people of Wiltshire.

2012 will be busy, and it will be unique, as the two events; the Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, are once in a lifetime occasions. I’m looking forward to us continuing to work with our communities to make sure that we do celebrate and reinvigorate that true sense of community spirit and that we leave a legacy and memories that people talk about for years to come about what a great year it was for Wiltshire.

Look forward to seeing you all soon,

Jane