THIS year marks the 50th anniversary of the creation of the district council serving the Basingstoke area in 1974.

As the two lead councillors heading up the decision-making cabinet at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council in 2024, Cllr Paul Harvey and I are proud to be the guardians of the current iteration of this council.

We know that we follow a long line of councillors that have been in the hot seat of making decisions about the borough for the present day and for the future. Whatever political party they have represented, we have one thing in common with those councillors. That is pride in the communities we serve and the wish to do the best for them, even if there have been differences of opinion on the best way to do this.

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Our focus for today is on delivering services to the high standards that our residents deserve. That is why we have committed more resources into putting the pride back into the areas where people live. That means more teams out cleaning the streets and keeping our communities tidy, as well as ensuring we can support our most vulnerable residents through crisis.

Decision-makers before us worked to create a legacy for the borough and it is important that we do the same. Their vision created the Aquadrome and now we are committing to replacing it with a modern and energy-efficient leisure and water complex.

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We are taking difficult decisions about where new homes should be built and how we protect the environment through the development of a new Local Plan, which will guide planning decisions for decades to come.

And of course, the most important thing that we can do for tomorrow’s generations is to take action and support others to tackle climate change and encourage biodiversity.

We are very conscious that the decisions we take today will have consequences for tomorrow and that’s why we are keen to make sure there is a full debate and we listen to all voices before we take them.