Dear Resident

Well, four years have gone by and the County Council elections will take place on 4th May 2017.

Councils up and down the country are facing huge financial pressures from Central Government and Derbyshire County Council is no different.  I have continued to fight for deals for this community for improvements to Highways and local schools.  I have also fought to ensure that funding is continued for services provided in the area, which benefit the wider community.  Also, funding for local community priorities has been high on my agenda.

I’d like to share with you some examples of the money  that has been spent by DCC on initiatives and projects in this area in the past four years and the investment made to community priorities, these projects are close to my heart and I am confident that they will be a real benefit to the community now and in years to come.

Significant spends being: resurface to carriageway from Tiger PH to roundabout £60k; Leabrooks Railway path upgrade to Greenway standard £100k and Leabrooks Road replacement of old signal equipment £90k.

One funded project has been for a Superkitchen at Somerlea Park Centre £8k.

Ccontributions to voluntary and community sector organisations that provide services in  Amber Valley such as: Derbyshire Mind; Cruse Bereavement Care; Age UK etc.

This is just a brief example of significant spending on projects, initiatives and improvements. There are, of course other issues, which are important to residents and businesses, which I am addressing on a daily basis and some of which inevitably put some pressure on decreasing budgets.

Councillor Paul Smith – Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care