INCREDIBLY in just one month’s time I will be marking 12 months as leader of Malvern Hills District Council – how time flies!

Looking back, it has been a period involving many changes but changes which have left us in a stronger position going forward so we can continue to deliver for our residents.

Importantly we’ve seen the district’s economy strengthen with more businesses growing, creating jobs and investing in our area, while the number of people on Jobseeker’s Allowance is the lowest in Worcestershire.

We’ve played our part by supporting some 100 businesses during the last 12 months and investing £370,000 into the expansion of phase four of Malvern Hills Science Park, with work on phase five getting underway soon providing even more opportunities for businesses. We’ve also launched new apprenticeship and graduate grant schemes to help address the skills shortage.

Our leisure centres have benefited from £530,000 worth of investment thanks to our deal with Freedom Leisure and we helped secure investment of more than £400,000 to revitalise Sling Lane Playing Fields.

We’ve continued to expand our festival programme to support shops and tourism while the new outdoor cinema programme, set for this summer, will be very exciting.

The last year has also been historic as we’ve finally seen the adoption of the South Worcestershire Development Plan which means we’re better placed to resist the speculative development the district has been subjected to.

On top of all that, we’ve developed our ambitious five-year plan – one of the few councils in the country to do so – setting out how we’re going to continue making Malvern Hills District a better place to live, work in and experience. This is supported by our new business plan which explains exactly how we will fund those ambitions and make the significant savings we need to as our government funding disappears.

The last 12 months has laid the foundations for a bright future for this council and our district. Now we need to build on that which is exactly what I, my colleagues, and our staff intend to do.