Happy New Year from East Lindsey District Council

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A SPECIAL New Year message has been issued to people living and working in East Lindsey by the Leader of East Lindsey District Council, Councillor Doreen Stephenson:

I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on 2009 and look at some of the challenges our District has faced and how we've worked together to overcome them.

I think it is fair to say 2009 was a tough year for us all mainly because of the recession. Early on District Councillors realised they would need to provide some unique support services to help the community. In response we launched a range of services that have prevented many families from becoming homeless and provided thousands more with practical advice and guidance on how to manage their finances and claim the benefits they're entitled to. Some of the services we are providing, such as the Court Service for those facing a home repossession, are being held up as an example for other Councils to copy by the Government and this is something we're very proud of.

Although it was a difficult year it has also been an exciting year in many other respects. SO 2009 was an amazingly successful new festival funded by the Arts Council England. It saw 8,000 people flock onto central beach in Skegness to see a magnificent pyrotechnic fire show that brought an end to three days of amazing entertainment never seen before on our coast. This was possibly the biggest festival in Skegness' history and something we will look to build on in the future.

From the outset, we knew 2009 would be an important year for tourism in our area and we've worked with businesses to attract people to our District and to give them a great time so they want to keep coming back. SO 2009, coupled with the cultural Black/North SEAS Festival towards the end of the main holiday season, resulted in many more people visiting our area and spending money in our towns to support the local business community. We must now build on the success of these events in future years and make sure East Lindsey remains one of the UK's leading holiday destinations. On the back of these events East Lindsey looks set to be linked closely with the Olympics in 2012 and has also been included in England's World Cup bid for 2018 as a potential Fan Site where live matches would be broadcast onto the beach. In Mablethorpe we've had another successful Festival and Bathing Beauties and we are supporting the relaunch of the Mablethorpe Marathon as we continue to try and extend the holiday season.

2009 was an exciting year on the sports front. We welcomed the England Women's World Cup winning Cricket Team to Louth to play at our new Sports Ground on London Road against Louth Cricket Club with the local lads proudly taking victory. Significant progress has been made on the new multi-million pound Meridian Leisure Centre in Louth that is due to open in February and we're just putting the finishing touches to the new Sports Pavilion on Wainfleet Road in Skegness, which is set for a Spring opening.

We've continued to drive forward our agenda for more affordable homes too. We know there is a significant need for affordable housing in East Lindsey to help families onto the property ladder and this is something we've been working hard to address with our partners. In the last 18 months we've helped build 326 affordable homes and we have more planned for the year ahead.

Looking forward, all Councils are set for more challenging times financially. In 2009 we decided to suspend Green Waste collection during the Winter because the service wasn't being well used and I suspect we will need to make more difficult decisions this year as a result of a significant cut in Government funding. In addition to a £1m saving the Council will be making by merging back office services with South Holland District Council, East Lindsey District Councillors are already actively reviewing all budgets and looking at how other services can run more efficiently to give the taxpayers of East Lindsey even better value for their money, whilst protecting services local people most rely on.

By working together we can achieve even greater things and I hope in 2010 we can develop new partnerships and new opportunities for partnership working to benefit us all.

Good luck for 2010. I hope you all have a successful year.

Councillor Doreen Stephenson
Leader of East Lindsey District Council