THE full council will today consider the Budget and the 2016-20 Corporate Strategy. The meeting will take place in the Bainbridge Room at the Copeland Centre at 2pm this afternoon (Thursday) and members of the public are welcome to attend.

There will be no cuts to public services announced in what will be a progressive, positive budget for growth, and the Corporate Strategy will clearly outline the route the council will pursue over the next four years, giving a clear sense of direction and real clarity as to where we are going and what we are aiming to achieve.

The Corporate Strategy has four key pillars:

1. Town Centre Regeneration;

2. Commercialisation;

3. Employment, Skills and Social Wellbeing; and

4. Strengthening the way we operate.

A number of policies have already begun to take shape and are already making a positive difference to deliver on these ambitions, and others are evolving. We will very soon see visible evidence of the positive impact of these policies.

It has been said on numerous occasions that we are on the cusp of an economic boom, which of course we are. As many of you know very well, it is a road we have been down before when Thorp at Sellafield in the 1980s brought unprecedented prosperity to Copeland.

As a community we learned starkly the results of boom and bust. The lessons have been learned and we now want Copeland to be in as strong a position as possible to lever and maximise growth opportunities.

We will work with all partners to achieve a positive and lasting legacy. This is what our Corporate Strategy is endeavouring to deliver.

Copeland is fortunate to have a lot of rural areas which are served well by dedicated parish and town councils. We will endeavour to support localities by all means available to us, including seeking external funding.

I am greatly encouraged by how our plans have been received in several meetings with strategic partners, the local business community and the public.

There is no political agenda here at all. The Corporate Strategy and the budget focus on delivering the best outcomes for Copeland - including every single one of its current and future residents and those who visit our borough.

Last Tuesday I was delighted to attend the ‘Opening the Door to Opportunity’ event organised by Sellafield Limited at Energus. By hosting this event, Sellafield gave Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) access to £80 million worth of work. The event, which attracted businesses in their hundreds, was a real success and once again, it was very encouraging and evident that business people are seeing the opportunity that is opening up in West Cumbria.

As your Mayor I will continue to work to ensure that those opportunities are maximised for all of us here in Copeland.