25 Sep 2008
Now that the summer - or what we had of one - is over I am settling in to working full time on council business having left the teaching profession.
Over the last few weeks Mark Gilks, our chief executive, and I have been holding a series of road shows with our staff to launch our new vision for Hounslow which we are calling Building pride, borough wide.
Over the next two years we are going to make a difference by delivering on a set of promises made to the whole borough:
low council tax
£2m extra for parks, libraries and leisure
cut graffiti by 50%
plant 1000 new trees
spend an extra £.25m for community safety
new and easier recycling of plastics and kitchen waste
£2m extra for safer roads and pavements
web access to more services
new homes for local people
new CCTV
As a council we are starting a new journey. We are going to begin the transformation of Hounslow, a transformation that will benefit our residents and businesses and bring new vigour and enjoyment to the vital work that all our staff do.
I want our staff to be proud of what they are doing and to realise that what they are doing matters to someone, no everyone in the borough.
With their help and hard work we are going to build pride borough wide.
We will make our borough a place where people of all ages and backgrounds live happily, knowing that their council, will do everything possible to provide high quality and at a cost they can afford. All household in the borough are going to receive a copy of Building pride borough wide soon - in the meantime you can download a copy from our website.
Cllr Peter Thompson
Leader
London Borough of Hounslow