 West Sussex County Council continues to support ways that towns and parish councils and local community groups can become involved in tackling issues in their local area and enhance the quality of their neighbourhoods through improving local places and spaces. With increasing budget pressures the highway services top priority remains focused on safety and we will still be responsible for resurfacing roads, drainage repairs and gully cleaning, safety lines and signs, essential tree maintenance and grass cutting. However there will be some reduced levels of service and we want to help local communities to influence and be part of the delivery of local improvements. The aim is to encourage local people to make decisions through their town and parish councils on what is a priority for them and what they want to fix as quickly as possible to improve their environment such as additional grass cutting, sign cleaning and vegetation cutback. Richard Speller, the area highway manager, will tell you more about the different ways to get involved. Improving local places and spaces is built up of three strands. Each strand includes many different ways in which you can get involved. Community highway partnerships, this is an agreement between parish, town councils or community groups that will enable maintenance work to enhance the local environment. Siding footpaths, clearing gullytops and treeworks are just a few examples that could be included in this type of partnership. Community led improvements, these are where communities can raise concerns about highways issues within their area and apply for either a community highway scheme or operation watershed. Community highway schemes are where they can request improvements that will significantly contribute to their community such as a new footpath, cycleway or traffic calming. Operation Watershed is where they can apply for funding to deliver projects to reduce the risk or impact of flooding in their area. Community action provides a variety of opportunities for volunteer groups to enhance their local neighbourhood by actively getting involved in a variety of highway related activities such as formal or informal verge planting, tidying up your neighbourhood via the removal of weeds, litter, fly posting and the removal of overgrown vegetation. For more complicated projects we provide task leader training, guidance on the production of risk assessments and possible insurance cover, assisting your community through adverse weather conditions such as snow, flooding and high winds. You can get involved and find out more detailed information through our website or via email. But I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who's been working with us in this way over the years and would enthusiastically encourage those who are not involved to do so.