WHAT a summer we’ve been having!
I hope everyone has been staying safe in the recent heatwaves and found opportunities to stay cool.
Last month we battled through the heat to make sure our voices in the West are being heard in Westminster.
Since I last wrote to you I, along with some of our regional MPs, local authorities and other partners, headed to London to make the case for new town status at Brabazon and the West Innovation Arc.
With 40,000 new homes and 40,000 new jobs being created, this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver huge infrastructure and investment that our region, and country, need.
Our visit to Westminster was to show the government we are ready to deliver one of the most significant and exciting opportunities in the UK, which will benefit so many people living in the West and boost the UK economy.
We were able to showcase everything we are doing at Brabazon and the West Innovation Arc to Angela Rayner MP, the former Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government, alongside representatives and ministers from the Department for Business and Trade, the Environment Agency, the Ministry of Defence and the Department for Transport.
I promise our campaigning for new town status does not end here. With a new prime minister in place, I will keep banging the drum for the West of England.
As devolution moves front and centre, we can go even further with the huge changes we are making to improve where we all live and work.
It is not just at Brabazon and the West Innovation Arc where we’ve set ambitious targets for new jobs and new homes, and we will proudly be making the case for more investment as more power and money move from Westminster to the regions.
It is so important to me that people who call our region home see opportunities for themselves here: opportunities to start a great career or find jobs while studying; the chance to own their own home without having to move miles from where they grew up; the option to travel quickly and sustainably for work and leisure.
I hope you all enjoy what is left of the summer and families are enjoying the school holidays. Remember, our hugely popular scheme Kids Go Free is running until Sunday September 6 (inclusive), where under-15s can travel on our buses without paying a penny.
The scheme has already saved families in the West more than £1.4 million and it has gone national for the whole of August, so you can travel even further – although, there is plenty here to keep you and the kids busy. The West is best, after all!