The new chief executive of Mansfield District Council has set out how he plans to help residents in the district under his leadership, including bringing in more business and job opportunities. Adam Hill has worked within local authorities across the county for 33 years, and was the deputy chief executive at the City and County of Swansea Council in his previous role.
Mr Hill's first ever job was in Mansfield, as a lifeguard and swimming instructor, and feels his new role is a "full circle" for him. He started his new role on August 1 following the announcement in May.
Speaking for the first time as CEO at Mansfield District Council, Mr Hill has ambitions to provide more skilled jobs for residents in the area by attracting more business and building more infrastructure. He says longer term, poverty in the area will be addressed along with tackling the energy crisis.
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Mr Hill said: "For now, it's about keeping doing what we're doing, as we're doing a lot of really good work. For the medium term, we want to capitalise on partnerships we've got, particularly such as jobs for residents, how to attract more business in the area, to encourage people to be entrepreneurs and attract more money coming in.
"That's so we can keep that circular economy if you like in Mansfield of money and skills staying here, but also bringing in more money and more business, more job opportunities. Longer term plans are to address things such as poverty and the energy crisis.
"We're already doing something called 'Passive House', which is energy efficient housing for properties within our stock. We'll look at how to roll that out further and how to retrofit our own, and to other people's homes."
Mr Hill says there will be more opportunities for people in Mansfield to work in more highly skilled jobs which he hopes will come to the area, along with the appropriate training facilities in order to be able to perform them. But he also says it goes beyond just providing more chances for people.
Mr Hill said: "We can do our bit, but people need to do their bit themselves as well. When we think about empowering, it's about empowering communities to think they can do more, that residents can go further and that we can ensure colleges are open for training and development.
"When we think of business, we think of that caring community and care in other aspects. We may be financially in that area of poverty, but the strength is in our people, and there's a lot of strength there to do great things, as we've seen here through the pandemic and those who continue to give time to others.
"With the digital and online communities we've now got, we can show people how to set up and develop themselves - Mansfield is known as the entrepreneurial capital I believe. Some of that is to attract more business in, train people and get people involved with the universities and colleges for more highly skilled work."
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