The Council will receive the annual State of the Tendring District Statement from the Leader of the Council.

The Leader of the Council made the annual State of the Tendring District Statement as follows:-

“Good evening, Chairman, and fellow Councillors.

I want to start tonight with a simple question.

What does it actually feel like to live in Tendring right now?

Not the statistics. Not the strategies. Just the honest, everyday experience of being a resident in this District.

That is what this Council exists for. Not the paperwork, not the processes, not the politics. The people. And everything I want to say tonight comes back to that.

I should say at the outset that there is so much happening across this District that no ten minute speech could ever do it full justice. Tonight is a snapshot, not the whole picture. It is my tradition to keep this address focused and relatively brief, and I intend to do that again this evening.

First, let me say. This Council’s financial position remains sound. I set that out in detail in February’s budget speech, and I am pleased to confirm to this chamber tonight that that remains the case. That is why you will not hear much more about finances this evening. The position is secure, and that gives us the platform to get on with the job.

A job that, like every council across the country, we are doing under real pressure. Rising demand, shrinking resources, genuine uncertainty about the future. We are not immune to any of that. What I can tell you is that we have refused to hide behind it. We have kept going. We have kept delivering. And Tendring is in a stronger place because of it.

Let me tell you what that looks like in practice.

It looks like families who nearly lost their homes, but did not, because we reached them in time. Our new Housing Strategy is built on one belief: that getting to people early, before a difficult situation becomes a crisis, is both the right thing to do and the smart thing to do. It saves lives from unravelling. It saves money. It keeps communities stable.

It looks like every household in this District getting a better waste service, not a worse one. We were expected by many to cut collections to three weekly. We did not. We listened to residents, kept the two weekly cycle, and added kerbside glass collections on top. That is what listening looks like.

It looks like town centres with working CCTV, streets that feel safer, and crime levels that are coming down. We completed our CCTV upgrade in Clacton this year and the results are already being felt.

It looks like people getting out more. Moving more. Living better. Activity levels across Tendring have risen by more than seven per cent to a record high, while inactivity has fallen to its lowest level ever. We are now in line with the national average, having lagged behind for years. The conditions we have created, the facilities we have invested in, the opportunities we have opened up, they are part of that story.

It looks like backing Career Track, our own apprenticeship scheme, nearly 40 years old, and rated good by Ofsted. Because we believe in our young people, and in growing the talent this District needs from within.

It looks like a theatre that turned 95 this year and is more alive than ever. Record audiences. National recognition. Young people on the stage performing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to a standing ovation. The Princes Theatre is not just a building. It is a beating heart in this community. Looking at culture more widely, the Arts Council England has invested £750,000 into our Creative People and Places partnership. They believe in what Tendring has to offer. And so do I.

It looks like town centres being transformed. In Clacton, in Jaywick Sands, in Harwich. Shopfronts being restored, libraries reopening, derelict sites being brought back to life. These are not grand gestures. They are steady, determined work. The kind that does not always make headlines but changes how a place feels to walk through.

It looks like a visitor economy which, by my estimation, is worth close to half a billion pounds a year, supporting one in every five jobs in this District. The Clacton Airshow, the largest free event in Essex, brings hundreds of thousands of people through our doors every year. Tourism is not “a nice to have”. It is a cornerstone of this District’s economy, and we treat it as such.

It looks like a coastline we are proud of and determined to protect. Four Blue Flags. Seven Seaside Awards. Improvements to Brightlingsea promenade and investment around the Naze in Walton. Water quality improving along our coast. And on the National Grid pylon scheme, let me be plain. We oppose it. We have always opposed it. We will not stop opposing it.

It looks like a new Urgent Treatment Centre nearing completion at Clacton Hospital, backed by two million pounds of this Council’s money, because we believe residents deserve better healthcare access and we put our money where our mouth is.

It looks like the Careline service, a lifeline for so many of the most vulnerable residents, successfully moved to Colchester Helpline this year, with minimal disruption, and secured for the future.

And it looks like the groundwork being laid for Tendring’s future. The Garden Community. The largest planning application ever submitted in the history of Essex. Not just homes, communities built properly, with the infrastructure and services that people actually need. The Local Plan. The A120. Freeport. These are not abstract ambitions. They are the foundations of what Tendring becomes over the next twenty years.

And now onto Local Government Reorganisation.

I am not going to pretend this is simple. It is not a decision we made. The direction has been set by government and it is our job to respond to it well, to protect our residents throughout the process, and to make sure Tendring’s voice is heard clearly at every stage and as our mantra has always been, put Tendring in the best possible place.

What I will not allow is for uncertainty about the future to become an excuse for standing still in the present. Residents will need us tomorrow just as much as they need us today. For their homes, their streets, their leisure, their safety, their support. That responsibility does not pause. Neither do we.

Chairman, before I close, I want to say something to our Officers and staff.

This has been a demanding year. The work that happens behind every decision in this chamber, the quiet, unglamorous, essential work of running a council, is carried out by people who care deeply about this District. I am grateful for every one of them and thank them for their tireless efforts.

I also want to put on record my thanks to my portfolio holders. These are people who do not just manage their briefs, they too, care deeply about them; they fight for them. That passion makes a real difference, and this administration is stronger for it.

We have done good work this year. There is more to do. And I for one cannot wait to get on with it.

Thank you Chairman.”

Councillors P B Honeywood, M A Cossens, Harris, Fairley, Baker and Calverspoke in the debate on the Leader’s statement.

Council noted the foregoing.