Talking of regeneration and growth, the redevelopment of what used to be called Birchwood Science Park, now re-titled Birchwood Park, is gathering pace. Birchwood park Estates have opened the new roundabout on the A574 and this should alleviate some of the traffic problems in Birchwood. The new buildings being erected near the old Warrington Road and Daten Avenue are soon to be occupied by Vodaphone. Attractive landscaping is always a major ingredient of the development and where the M-Mound in front of the Conference Centre used to be, a very attractive lake will soon be installed. New signage has been erected.

By the way, did you realise that the Conference centre and its restaurants are open to the public? Drop in. You will be made very welcome by the staff.

As a result of the close co-operation between Birchwood Town Council and Warrington Borough Council, new footpaths are being installed on Admirals Road and Ordinance Avenue in Oakwood and on Glover Road in Locking Stumps. Very soon, mothers with babies in buggies and people in wheelchairs will no longer have to take very serious risks on the very busy highways. Thanks to all our residents for their tolerance during the construction. A few gaps of footpath remain and these will be constructed during 2001.

The refurbishment of the Birchwood Shopping Mall promises to be a very exciting project. As does the locating of the h-tech incubator units in the presently vacated premises on the first floor of the unit opposite The Silver Birch. Birchwood Town Councillors were very pleased to be able to negioate with Legal and General on your behalf to ensure that parking for the disabled was retained on the car park in front of the Medical Centre and note that it is one of the highlighted features in the publicity in the Mall.

The recently installed lighting on the car park at Oakwood Mount seems to be very popular with everyone. Customers of the shop seem more confident and there is less graffiti and litter. Thanks to all who have helped to make Oakwood Mount more attractive. If only we could encourage the visitors to Birchwood to take their fast food refuse and disposable nappies home with them rather than throwing them out of their car windows onto the car parks of the Shopping Mall or the most convenient grass verge en route! Our maintenance Teams do a grand job of clearing litter, but they could be more gainfully employed in less remedial work.

The only recurring problem we seem to have is with the new bus shelters. During this recent, terrible winter the shelters were a boon to anyone waiting for buses. Many local young people also realised that they can be an asset and sat and talked with each other in a safe and dry location. It is, however, always the selfish and socially challenged who find anything attractive and inert, a challenge and something to exorcise their sense of inferiority on. Fortunately, we have only a few of these characters in Birchwood. If you see anyone damaging these shelters, please ring the police immediately.

My turn of office as Chairman of the Birchwood Town Council is fast drawing to a close. It has been a very great privilege to be Chairman of such a dynamic and go-ahead Town Council. Two hundred and twenty Birchwood residents turned out for the Birchwood In Bloom Presentation Evening. Our local M.P. Helen Jones presented the extremely aesthetic medallions to prizewinners and runners-up. Every single person complimented the Town Council on the competition and the awards evening itself. (Get your gardens and hanging baskets ready for what promises to be a very hard fought contest!)

The annual pantomime at Birchwood Community High School was another "roaring" success. Birchwood Town Council again supported the Annual Bonfire, which worked really well in March this year. Again, we supported the Birchwood Carnival and we look forward to supporting a bigger and much more successful carnival in a sun-kissed June this year! We have welcomed supporting local community groups with start-up grants.

All the Birchwood Town Councillors take a real interest in the education of our local young people and serve on the governing bodies of all our local schools. It is very gratifying to see that they are all performing exceptionally well in examinations at all Key Stages. Indeed, Birchwood Community High School has recently been praised by Ofsted and was given a Gold Award for being among the top 280 schools in the country. Very recently, it was awarded the status of Beacon School for its performance and its good practice.

In order to enhance the quality of the education and life-chances of our young people, Birchwood Town Council is shortly to install community/school play areas at each of the primary schools. We also plan to install very attractive community multi-sports areas for the teenagers of Birchwood.

To enhance the social life of all the residents of Birchwood, we purchased Parkers Farm and have made it into a very attractive Community Centre for Birchwood residents. Hire rates for meeting rooms are very competitive and there is now plenty of car parking spaces. We have also purchased the adjacent barn, which is also a listed building, and when refurbished, it will also be available for community use. With the opening of the new Youth Centre, this is now a very attractive area.To find out more about Birchwood Town Council and the community facilities available for your use, please keep visiting our website.

It has been a very gratifying year. The Clerk to the Council, Gary Crowe and I were recently invited to the monthly meeting of a Parish Council in the south of Warrington to talk to them about how we are trying to provide local solutions to local problems in the most efficient manner. Their councillors were very impressed. We felt very proud of Birchwood. I would like to thank you all for your support during this last year and hope that you will give the incoming Chairman, Councillor David Eccles, the same level of support.