Rural conference hosted by borough council
MEMBERS of the borough recently hosted the fourth annual rural conference which focussed on celebrating some of the great work that has been delivered in our rural communities over the last three years.
The event attracted delegates who represented the rural parishes of the borough, along with key partners including Leicestershire Police, the Rural Communities Council, Midlands Rural Housing and Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland Resilience Partnership.
The day began with a welcome from Sharon Redrobe, Chief Executive at Twycross Zoo, reporting on progress of their ambitious master plan for the ongoing development of the flagship visitor attraction.
Guests also heard from Inspector Emma Maxwell, who took up the Local Police Unit Commander role earlier in the year, reporting on the key challenges, successes and priorities of rural policing.
The event also provided an opportunity to receive feedback from delegates to help inform a refreshed Rural Strategy for 2019.
Executive Member for Rural Affairs at the Borough Council, Councillor Kevin Morrell, gave the opening address saying: “I am delighted to welcome you to this our fourth annual rural conference and find it hard to believe our inaugural conference was three years ago - a really important event where I made a commitment that the Borough Council would be putting in place our first Rural Strategy for the borough, setting out the most important priorities for our rural communities, informed by you our Parishes.
“I also promised that this document would not sit on a shelf and be forgotten, but would be utilised to determine where we are putting resources year on year, and regularly reviewed to ensure we continue to be ambitious enough in planning for and delivering on the things that matter most to our rural communities, now and in the future.”
Councillor Morrell concluded by saying: “I want to thank all of our Parish Councils, our key partners, many are represented here today and the myriad of community volunteers, who collectively deliver great work day in day out.”