AN ‘ambitious’ new blueprint to ensure Barrow is a great place to live and work is to be discussed at a key meeting next week.

The Barrow Borough Council plan sets out key priorities for the area over the next four years - as well as the ways in which these can be achieved.

The document puts healthy, happy, productive people, a great place that makes the most of its natural and historical assets and a thriving economy at the heart of everything the council will do.

Councillor Ann Thomson, Barrow Borough Council leader, said she was proud of the ambitions the authority was setting for itself in the new Council Plan.

“We want Barrow to be a great place to live, work and visit, somewhere that is attractive and welcoming and which supports healthy lifestyles and a strong economy.

“We also want to be in a position to make the most of opportunities for regeneration and economic development funding over the next few years.

“This a bold and ambitious plan, but one that will help make sure everything we do takes us closer to our vision.”

The council plan is a strategic document that will guide decision making within Barrow Borough Council until 2024.

It will also inform the way in which public money is spent over the period.

A draft version of the plan will be discussed by members of the authority’s full council meeting on Tuesday January 21 before it is formally adopted.

Among the ambitions listed within the document is a move towards a more diverse economy, a reduction in health inequalities and progress with Low Carbon Barrow - a project to lower the borough’s carbon footprint.

Also included is a pledge to grow Barrow Borough Council’s reputation as a compassionate organisation that listens to its communities.

Cllr Thomson added: “At the heart of this plan is our bid to create better lives for the people of Barrow as we look for ways to maximise our natural and heritage assets, to look after the environment and to work towards an economy rich in employment opportunities for all.

“Our progress will be monitored closely with achievements reported to council along the way.

“As an authority, we want the best for Barrow and its people.

“This plan will put us on the right path to realising this goal.”

Councillors are due to meet at Barrow Town Hall at 5.30pm.

They are also set to discuss formalising the process of granting residents freedom of the borough, ‘the highest honour that the council can grant’ for ‘achievement and exceptional service’.