THE choices made by local government have a bigger impact on our lives than many of us realise, yet people often complain that those decisions are difficult to keep track of.

That’s why I am so pleased to be launching this new monthly column in the Bicester Advertiser.

It’s a chance for me, as leader of Cherwell District Council, to lift the lid on some of the projects we are running here in Bicester, and to help readers stay abreast of what we are doing with our share of your council tax.

Cherwell keeps only 7.1 per cent of the council tax it collects, with the rest going to the county and town councils, and the police.

With that money we deliver services such as waste and recycling collections, street cleansing, planning, sports facilities and more.

But I have never wanted our work in Bicester to be limited by the scope of what council tax allows us to do.

As the town grows, we are determined to put healthy, environmentally friendly living at the heart of Bicester’s infrastructure.

To that end we have worked hard to attract almost £1m of funding to the town by winning 'Healthy New Town' status.

We are putting this money to work delivering the lifestyle improvements you have told us you want to make.

Responses to a survey we ran earlier this year showed your concern with problems such as fatigue and emotional wellbeing.

One in three of you also told us that you don’t get enough exercise.

Since its launch in May, the Healthy New Town programme has begun vital work to address these issues.

Its key goals are to increase the number of people who are physically active in Bicester, and reduce the number of people who feel socially isolated.

'What’s the council’s role in all of this?' some of you might ask.

Well, not everyone has the time to spend hours every week at the gym, but the science shows us that even small changes to people’s regular routine, such as walking instead of driving to work, can have a massive impact on their long-term health.

And that’s where we come in.

Through our decisions about the built environment – such as providing new signage, walking routes, and green spaces – we can make it easier for people with busy schedules to incorporate exercise into their daily lives.

We are already seeing great results from the programme.

Lots of you have got back to us saying how much you’ve enjoyed using the three 'Health Routes' we have recently introduced around town.

Having seen our latest plans for Healthy Bicester, NHS England recently confirmed £635,000 of funding for the programme, the highest level of funding available to participants.

Amongst many other things, we and our partners are investing that money promoting healthy lifestyles at schools and in local businesses, where we are already seeing fantastic levels of engagement.

All of the Bicester’s schools participated in the walk to school week in May, and over summer, Healthy New Town student ambassadors put on special exercise activities for girls.

Now they are hard at work developing a website promoting mental health for young people. Meanwhile, we have appointed a project manager who is working with local businesses to deliver a workplace wellbeing programme.

The Healthy New Town project shows that even when we face cutbacks to traditional funding from Government, we can bring extra value to you, the people of Bicester, when we think big and work together.