Newark and Sherwood District leader Paul Peacock explains the increase in portfolios at the authority and talks tackling climate change

Hello everyone, some of you will already be aware that we have a brand new cabinet here at Newark and Sherwood District Council with a dedicated team of passionate members already working hard to make important changes and seek vital investment for the matters that you, our residents, care most about, writes district council leader Paul Peacock.

After listening to you we understand that you want the council’s work, policies and decisions to be more transparent with a broader decision-making process. In order to facilitate this, we have increased the number of portfolio holders working in our cabinet.

This means clearer, better debated and thought out decision-making around the issues that matter to you.

Our portfolios now better reflect yours and our priorities, with more emphasis on public protection, the environment, economic development, heritage, culture and art, housing and health and wellbeing.

The district council declared a climate emergency in 2019 and the threats and dangers posed from Climate Change are ever growing. We already know that this district suffers from severe flooding and extreme temperatures have been affecting many other parts of the world recently.

We cannot ignore this, which is why we have given more emphasis within our cabinet to important issues such as combatting Climate Change and enhancing and protecting biodiversity.

Right now, our portfolio holders are busy working extremely hard to bring new proactive approaches to protect residents now and in the future, with the hope that this will attract further investment and opportunities for our district.

The new cabinet are committed to developing a new ethos around Newark and Sherwood District Council; residents should be able to rely on the council and trust the council - we are here for you.

We are also currently working on our Community Plan for the next four years, which will demonstrate our direction and areas of focus for the entire district.

We are very ambitious and want to make improvements for everyone so the plan will set out how we will go about doing this and we will carry out regular reviews to ensure the plan remains fit for purpose and in touch with local priorities.

I would like to finish by reminding residents I am here to listen and welcome your thoughts so please do get involved and have your voice heard. More information on how to do so can be found on our website.