Just an hour’s drive from London, Maldon is an attractive and predominantly rural district. It retains an unspoilt nature and its own special character, forged largely by the principal waterways of the Blackwater and Crouch estuaries.

Much of the District’s 75 miles of coastline of tidal salt marshes and mudflats is recognised as of international and national environmental significance and protected as such.

One of the District’s many great strengths is its quality of life with a crime rate well below the national average; the District is one of the safest places to live in Essex, and the County itself is also below the national average.

The District is steeped in history. The ancient market town of Maldon developed as an important Saxon port and in 991AD it was home to the famous Battle of Maldon where Viking invaders were victorious. Hundreds of years later, the District became known as a centre for oyster fishing, timber processing and the production of agricultural machinery. The Hythe Quay, the old port of Maldon, is the foremost modern-day centre for Thames Sailing Barges. Burnham-on-Crouch, the second largest town in the District, like Maldon, boasts a rich maritime heritage. The 15 mile stretch of fine sailing water between the Town and the open sea has led it to become renowned in sailing circles as the ‘Cowes of the East Coast’. The town has a rail link to London Liverpool Street, with a journey time of just over one hour.

Charming villages and hamlets are dotted across the District. The historic core of a number of these villages are designated conservation areas and the District is guardian to over 1,000 listed buildings of architectural and historic importance.

The District mixes old and new and is characterised by diverse and distinct natural, historic and built heritage, making a significant contribution to overall quality of life on offer. Many opportunities exist for wildlife watchers, artists and walkers to explore the coast and countryside via an extensive network of footpaths. The scenic environment provides a rich backcloth against which to enjoy a round of golf, horse riding or angling for instance, all of which are well catered for. A colourful calendar of traditional barge matches, regattas, races and festivals has put the area on the map as a destination for maritime leisure and water recreation.

The Maldon District covers some 138 square miles and has a resident population of some 61,600 (2011 Census). The District offers a wide range of residential properties, from period country cottages to brand new executive homes.

The District is both home, and in close proximity, to a variety of fine educational facilities. A full range of educational establishments are available in the Maldon District including public and private schools as well as a good choice of highly performing primary schools. The two academies in the District, the Plume School in Maldon and Ormiston in Burnham-on-Crouch, provide thriving and highly successful performing arts departments and outstanding sports achievements respectively. The nearby Colchester County High Schools for Girls and the King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford are the two currently best performing schools overall in Essex. Also, within a 25-mile radius of Maldon, other schools ranked in the top 100, with excellent academic reputations and consistently achieving outstanding public examination results, include the Chelmsford County High School for Girls, the Colchester Royal Grammar School and the two High Schools for boys and the two High Schools for girls in Westcliff and in Southend-on-Sea.

The Anglian Ruskin University and the University of Essex are also located in Chelmsford and Colchester respectively and Writtle College, near Chelmsford, offers a host of land-based courses from agriculture to design, and equine and animal science to horticulture.

The Corporate Plan is our key strategic document. It essentially provides a frame of reference for our work, ensuring that residents, staff and partners are fully informed of the aspirations and plans for the District. Our success will continue to be measured by how well we deliver the ambitions set out in the Plan.

Our Corporate Plan covers the four-year period 2015 – 19 and sets the Vision for the District as follows: ‘To make Maldon District a better place to live, work and enjoy.’

The Plan highlights our ambitions and priorities and what we are going to do to support the delivery of the Vision. The priorities draw heavily on existing strategies and plans approved by the District Council, including those that have been developed in partnership with other agencies.

• Strengthening communities to be safe, active and healthy
• Protecting and shaping the District
• Creating opportunities for economic growth and prosperity
• Delivering good quality, cost effective and valued services

The Plan is not intended to be a full statement of everything we do, but instead sets the direction for service delivery and will guide our planning and allocation of resources. The priorities are developed further in our operational one-year business plans for the three Directorates.

In developing our Corporate Plan, we have taken stock and reviewed what the Council has set out to achieve as a public service provider. As an organisation the Council must be fit for purpose and able to meet the challenges that face both the District and its communities. We recognise that we must continue to adopt a proactive and positive approach in our operation and look at how we can work in partnership to make an even better place to live, work and enjoy.

To achieve our ambitions, we need to ensure that our resources are aligned to our corporate goals, and that our assets are well managed. By managing our resources well, we are better able to deliver quality services based on Elected Members’ priorities and public feedback, better equipped to deal with the implications of unforeseen events, and effectively link policy and service development and performance management with resource planning.

Supporting our Corporate Plan is the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) which looks at the Council’s broad financial prospects and seeks to ensure that we focus our resources on delivering our Vision and meeting our corporate goals. The Strategy describes the financial direction of the Council and outlines the financial pressures over a four-year period

Our MTFS is based on the approach that we actively promote strong financial and risk management and maintain a balanced budget, with sufficient reserves to ensure the financial stability of the Council. It is our intention to maintain this approach whilst consistently delivering low council tax increases for the benefit of our residents.

The up to date MTFS projects the Council’s financial position from 2018/19 through to 2021/22. This highlights the need to make a continued effort to generate financial savings to reduce the projected budget gap. We have a strong history of effective financial management and generation of savings through contract renewal, efficiency measures and income generation. This, coupled with a relatively healthy General Fund balance, means that we can take a planned approach to managing our financial position. Alongside the MTFS are other key documents that support the resourcing of our Corporate Plan ambitions.

Our Workforce Development Plan provides an essential framework to help us make the best decisions about our workforce to deliver against the Corporate Plan. Our Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Strategy details the high level strategic direction and plans for ICT for the next four years. It provides a set of aims that will help the Council to develop as an organisation and deliver technology-based services fit for the 21st century and demonstrates the role of ICT as one of the management tools in enabling the achievement of the Council’s overarching Vision.