4 January 2019

Throughout my time as the MP for Mid Norfolk, it has delighted me to see the great local community spirit that flows through so many of our towns and villages – and I have always been a strong advocate for anything that helps to foster and/or harness it.

That’s why one of my central missions since becoming an MP has been to support our local communities when they decide to embark on the process of creating their own Neighbourhood Plans – outlining how they want to grow and develop over the next twenty years or so.

After discussions with Watton Town Council back in 2017, I was pleased that they decided to set up a Neighbourhood Plan group to do just that and, in the time since, they have achieved some great progress as they begin to form their Plan. However, the great team at Watton Town Council also want to go even further and set up a Town Partnership that brings local partners together to work on local projects for the benefit of all those with an interest in the town.

By bringing together the likes of local councillors, community groups, businesses, local government officials and the outstanding Wayland Partnership, Watton will be able to create a stronger voice with which to bring about positive change and progress – and a lot of promising ideas are already being floated.

I am delighted to be co-chairing an initial meeting of this Town Partnership with the Watton Town Mayor, Tina Kiddell, in the coming weeks and am excited to be able to report on the outcomes/next steps that arise from it.

I also look forward to continuing my work with several other local communities on very similar initiatives in the weeks and months ahead.