The New Year is not beginning as any of us would have hoped with the start of a new national lockdown.
This is obviously not what any of us wanted but, unfortunately, the number of cases of Covid-19 has continued to increase, putting an incredible strain on the NHS. We need to work together to help bring the pandemic under control so that we can all get back to some normality.
While in the short term our focus is still on the pandemic, we are continuing to provide the essential services on which residents rely and are also planning for the return of more normal times and how we get there.
Our immediate priority is to put in place mass testing centres, which will help us slow the spread of the virus.
At the same time, we are working with our NHS colleagues to make the Oxford and AstraZeneca vaccines available as soon as possible, to those who are most vulnerable and at risk.
We will also continue to work with Bexley schools to ensure that the education of our young people returns safely as soon as it can.
I know that many local businesses are being severely affected by the restrictions that have been put in place to keep us safe. This year we will continue to provide them with all the support we can, as we did last year. And I will be continuing to lobby the government to extend the period when help is available beyond March.
While the pandemic has turned our lives upside down, our priority is still to continue to make Bexley a place where people are proud to live or do business.
Growth continues to a be a priority for us, because it is the best way to create the new employment opportunities and homes we need. We will soon be consulting you on our draft Local Plan, which will help us to do this.
Work is already underway in Sidcup on the first development managed by our development company, BexleyCo. We hope it will set the standard for others to follow as we look to work with social housing providers and developers to house local people.
We are also looking to take forward our environmental agenda, with new measures to help tackle climate change, including increased food recycling.
This year will also see progress with the development of another new special school in Belvedere.
Last year, the Council, local people and our public and voluntary sector partners achieved the most amazing things, to help the community meet the unique challenges created by the pandemic. We recruited volunteers, a new team of Community Champions and we delivered food to the vulnerable and support for businesses when it was really needed.
Now we are coming together to deliver the testing and the vaccinations that we hope will pave the way for victory over the virus.
We have shown how much we can achieve by working together. Let’s keep doing this. If we do, I know we will be able to look forward to better times in the year ahead.