New Year Messages

Pat Raven, Chairman of Malvern Hills District Council writes...

"It has been a busy and challenging year for Malvern Hills District Council.

This was the first year of the Government's Best Value initiative, designed to make councils more accountable to the people they serve. Responses to the Council's consultation exercises will help us to set the future direction of the Council.

Some very difficult budget decisions should ensure the maintenance of high standards in all our services to the public. The Malvern Millions have provided sports and community facilities throughout the District - Sport Martley, The Chase all-weather surface, new clubhouses and extensions for cricket, rugby and bowls enthusiasts and improvements to many village halls. Community groups continued working hard and raising funds for the needy. Council staff raised nearly £1,000 for my Chairman's Charities. Well done, everyone!

The district's flood crisis started at Tenbury Wells and spread as far as Upton. MHDC provided sandbags, manned telephone help lines and made arrangements for emergency evacuations. My thanks to everyone involved, including the emergency services, Army and volunteers, for their valiant efforts to help the victims.

The Council will press the Environment Agency and the Government both for funds for clearing up and for better flood control measures in future. We must not lose out because we are semi-rural! Finally, may I wish all of you good health, happiness and a crisis-free New Year."

David Williams, Mayor of Malvern, writes...

"THIS has not been an easy year for Malvern Town Council. The New Year, the first of the new Millennium, will bring great changes for us all. Your council will be able to move into its permanent home and start, with the co-operation of all our partners, providing the full service that we have always promised. We will be able to start improving and developing the areas taken on from Malvern Hills District Council. This will need the involvement of all our ratepayers, in helping us to respond to your wishes.

It has been extremely enjoyable in visiting all the groups and charities that have supported the town. With your help, I hope we will continue to bring something extra to all those who give so much. Thank you to everyone who has helped in any way to make Malvern a better place for us all. I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year."

Clive Jupp, Mayor of Ledbury, writes...

"I HOPE you will forgive me if I do not use a traditional format for this message. Recently, we have again had complaints that the Council has failed in its duties - this time it was from the Ledbury Farmers' Market. They complained that the Christmas lights were not up to standard and we failed to provide carol singers. These two criticisms are representative of many levelled against other councils as well as us. The first type criticises an action for which we have already explained the reason, as a shortfall against expectation. Very often, as in this case, the problem is outside of our control. Councillors will get hot under the collar about such complaints, but really, they hurt the people behind the scenes who have worked hard in very difficult circumstances. The second type expects councillors to think of everything.

Though some may doubt it, we are only human. If you have thoughts and ideas about any area of Council business, please make contact with us and let us know. It is preferable to receive the ideas before the event. Unfortunately, not all ideas will result in action, but they will all receive consideration. I know the rejection of ideas can be another "turn off" and frequently leads to the comment "there is no point in complaining they take no notice". All I can say is keep trying.

My wish for the New Year is for more people to take part in the process. Make it a New Year's resolution to find out a bit more about what we do in your name. Let us know what you think about issues. Help us to help everyone. I hope that you will realise your expectations in the coming year, but above all else, I trust it may be peaceful."

Ernie Holder, Mayor of Upton, writes...

"THE end of the 20th Century at Upton was an event in itself, dominated as it was by the deepest floods since the record levels of 1947. The damage to property and to Upton's commerce was devastating. The aftermath with the inevitable mud pollution, the second flood coming immediately after the clean-up of the first was heartbreaking. With such vivid recent memory, it is not possible to imagine with any seriousness that such experiences will not happen again for many years to come.

Life is forever full of surprises. Whatever, we must always look forward with hope, confidence and optimism. There is always much to do, many goals to aim at, very much to achieve in 2001. It is in this spirit, and on behalf of Upton Town Council, that the mayoress and I send you our very best wishes for a happy, carefree, progressive and prosperous New Year."

Bill Gibbard, Mayor of Bromyard & Winslow, writes...

"AS the year 2000 draws to a close, I look back with pleasure at the achievements - a considerable programme of assistance to local organisations/projects in the form of grants and funding, an enjoyable programme of events, local charities again being well supported with substantial funds being raised for the Air Ambulance, St Michael's Hospice and others.

With the conclusion of my term of office in May 2001, I wish to thank all the present and previous councillors for their help and assistance during my tenure; also to include all organisations for their kind invitations and friendship. I also wish to thank the people of the town of Bromyard & Winslow for the privilege of representing them during the last two years. I wish you all a very happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year."

Peter Carter, Chairman of Worcestershire County Council, writes...

"THE year 2000 has been a busy and eventful one for the County Council - and not without its problems. Poor funding from the Government has been a constant worry and put a very great strain on our ability to provide the level of services that the people of Worcestershire need and deserve. Nevertheless, I am proud of the way that all the Council's staff have worked hard to ensure that our services are kept at the highest possible standard.

The widespread floods that have hit the county twice recently have been another major problem and we cannot thank enough all those who worked day and night to alleviate the difficulties and heartache suffered by so many - householders and businesses alike. But there has been much to celebrate as well - our stand winning the Supreme Champions Award at the Three Counties Show; Skills on Show at County Hall, which attracted 15,000 visitors; the Worcestershire athletes who competed so well in this year's Olympics; Worcestershire's Youth Day at the Dome, which was a huge success and the standard of all performances excellent; and the Worcestershire Young Musicians 2000 with the highest number of entrants so far in this annual competition - the young talent we have in our schools is something of which we should all be proud.

2001 is now before us, and I assure everyone that we, as a County Council, will continue to work in your best interests. We are proud to serve you and will strive to make you proud of the County in which we live. On behalf of all the county councillors and staff, we send our very best wishes."

The Bishop of Worcester, the Right Reverend Dr Peter Selby, writes...

"IN the year just past there was much talk of forgiveness. It was not surprising: 2000 was a jubilee year, the message of jubilee was about forgiveness, in particular about the remission of debts. But forgiveness isn't only or even mainly about money. It is about not being trapped by the past and about being set free to move on, so that the future can be really new.

Events in the Middle East have etched themselves into my memory during 2000, mostly because they seemed so much to be about the triumph of the past over the need of a new future. Memories of the Holocaust and of the wars that have scarred that land during the 20th Century seem somehow fixed, so that the people of that land are trapped by them and prevented from making peace with each other. But the evidence is that if you keep rerunning the tape of the past, it traps you in it. Not that what has happened can be unhappened - sometimes people rerun the tape in the hope that the story will turn out differently.

What is needed there, and what we all need, is a way to begin again, a way to escape from the trap of the past into the liberty of a new future. That would really bring hope, both to war-torn lands and to our own lives. Christian faith is about meeting the cost of a new start. It is about God longing enough for a new start for the World to be willing to bear that cost, so that a new future might be available for us all. May this New Year be a happy one, and bring God's promised new beginning for us all."

Sir Michael Spicer, MP for West Worcestershire, writes...

"AS we go into the New Year there is a sniff of a General Election in the air, though in political life I have learnt always to expect the unexpected and the Government has the right and the majority to continue in office until the spring of 2002. In the advent the electors of Worcestershire will be able to make a political choice at the County Council elections, which will take place on May 3, 2001. This is not the time nor place to advise them how to vote at these elections. No doubt they will do so as they usually do, in some measure according to how they are feeling about the economy in general and their personal wealth in particular.

The economic prospects I fear do not look too bright in the year ahead. I was recently in America, where I met Mr Alan Greenspan, the chairman of their central bank. He was not particularly sanguine about the US economy; and when America sneezes we usually catch a cold. But this is not the season for gloom. May I wish a happy New Year to all the readers of this newspaper."

Peter Temple-Morris, MP for Leominster, writes...

"SHORT of something extraordinary, this will be the last time that I have the pleasure of wishing you a happy New Year as your Member of Parliament. I do so with gratitude and affection for a constituency that, in a sense, has looked after me as well I have tried to look after it.

In no way do I say farewell, as we will continue to live in the area and, after 27 years as MP, there are many links that will remain. I have much enjoyed the opportunity to serve such a lovely part of the World. My time with you may on occasion have been a little turbulent, but I like to think they have always been happy times. As I prepare to step down, I salute and thank you all. I wish you a very special and happy New Year."