HERE is wishing all The Mail readers a prosperous and successful 2018.

I hope you are as positive about our prospects for the future as I am. Even though the future is always uncertain, we have a lot of positives to celebrate and many good things to look forward to.

I was delighted, as I am sure you were, that the Lake District National Park was awarded World Heritage Site status. This will undoubtedly bring an increased number of tourists to see this great park. If we are smart about it, we will also be able to show visitors some of the delights of Cumbria that are located outside of the national park.

In perhaps lesser, but nevertheless exciting news, we were also awarded, with Craven, the status of a Great Place. This will bring investment, new activities and tourism to our area. In addition, the Lakeland Arts proposal, World Heritage Cumbria (for major arts-related funding in southern Cumbria), was chosen as the Cumbrian candidate for funding from the Northern Cultural Regeneration fund. We have to wait to see whether we are successful; but even if not, the successes so far and the raft of festivals planned for 2018, assure us that we are indeed contending as the rural arts and culture centre of the North West.

On the economic front, we have low unemployment and an enviable record in new business start-ups that survive beyond five years. I am extremely enthusiastic about the association that we have initiated with Barrow and Lancaster, two areas that have dynamic but not competing economies with that of South Lakeland. I have been delighted by the enthusiasm across Morecambe Bay for this initiative and the strong evidence among local politicians of a collaborative spirit of co-operation.

In South Lakeland, we have an agreed ambitious plan to build affordable housing. We expect to exceed our target of 1,000 new affordable houses to rent by 2025. Building these houses will not only create living accommodation for people who are inadequately housed, but it will also stimulate economic activity which will benefit us all.

I am sure that we all agree that we need improved infrastructure on the roads and rail. I am encouraged by the programme of activity supported by the Local Enterprise Partnership which, among other projects, is supporting major improvements to the A590 and the rail network. I am hoping that very soon we will have good news on the Cross-a-Moor junction, for which South Lakeland has pledged a substantial contribution.

So there is a lot to celebrate and a lot to look forward to. I hope that, like me, you are optimistic about the opportunities that 2018 will present.