When I become leader of the Conservative Group on the council I made it abundantly clear that myself and my councillor colleagues would provide constructive and objective scrutiny to matters that require challenge and equally be supportive for those issues for which we agree and are for the benefit of the whole borough.

The general direction of the regeneration vision for the borough is one that we have, and are totally in agreement with, and have been happy to play our part in lobbying the previous government, along with James Daly, to financially support those levelling up initiatives which are now beginning to emerge.

We now can see with the many plans that are being considered genuine opportunity to further widen and strengthen the regeneration vision within the borough.

The opportunity to develop an international mega-cluster of advanced manufacturing research, at the Atom Valley Mayoral Development Zone, is huge and we all should be totally supportive of what this can mean for the people of Bury.

Russell Bernstein outside the Goat's Gate pub in WhitefieldRussell Bernstein outside the Goat's Gate pub in Whitefield (Image: Supplied)

As we all know regeneration provides many local economic and social benefits, and while worklessness is a complicated matter, the wider and more local the employment offering is, the greater the chance that this will lead to more people entering the employment market, and also for those people already in employment getting better jobs.

It is important to highlight that in March there were in excess of 500 more people in Bury claiming a work-related benefit, mainly Universal Credit, when compared to the number in September last year.

So, the challenges to help many in our borough are clear to see and it will be interesting as to how Andy Burnham’s Live Well initiative contributes to this important matter.

Russell BernsteinRussell Bernstein (Image: Supplied)

While there is much in my opinion to be optimistic about (contrary to the doom and gloom of the recently elected government), I am somewhat concerned that the opportunities for growth which the regeneration plans support could be impacted by some of the interventions from this Labour government which are designed to restrict personal choice.

As James Cleverly rightly pointed out at the Conservative Party Conference last week, the Prime Minister wants the state to have more control over all our lives, a nanny state, closing pubs early, banning smoking outdoors. There has even been suggestions to choosing what ingredients go in certain foods.

If the Labour government do intervene in the way the Prime Minister has advocated, and let's face it, it will, such control will most certainly have a negative impact on the much needed economic growth the country and more locally Bury needs.

This is not the change the people of this country voted for.