First, may I begin by wishing you all a very Happy New Year (or should I say Millennium). I should like, on behalf of Impington Parish Council, to echo the words of thanks, given by Councillor Parish, to all those who have, in any way, made the celebrations of last night and today possible.

This has been a unique collaboration of people from across the two villages, utilising funding from both within Histon and Impington and, by way of a Lottery grant, externally. We are witnessing the working together of commercial enterprise and personal enthusiasm - it is an excellent example to us all of what we could achieve again and again in 2000 and beyond, if only we are of a mind to do so.

In the next Millennium I hope we shall continue to see our two villages developing a greater individual sense of responsibility for the community. 1000 years is too long a period to plan, but I do think we should set ourselves some realistic aims and objectives for the next 10 years. For the last 2000 years, we in this country have lived, more or less, by a code of conduct taken from the teaching of Christ and it is, of course, courtesy of a marking of his birthday, that we have a calendar change to celebrate at all today. Whether or not you subscribe to Christian theology, I doubt few here today would argue with the sentiment of "Love thy neighbour" which He made central to His earthly teaching.

I know many of you have a deep love for this community and a real anxiety about its future, about the world we are creating for our children, about the way in which we treat the elderly or infirm, how we care for our environment. The list is endless, as are the many requests for help your Parish Councils receive each year. Your Councillors and other groups, such as the Millennium team, can do so much but we cannot do everything - we urgently need the wider membership our communities to get involved in nurturing and growing our hopes and dreams.

None of us has much spare time, but if every person of working age gave just a few hours to help another person or project in our villages, the result could be staggering - dare I say, overwhelming. A new Millennium is a time to look forward with vision and commitment - will you be part of that, or are you content to sit back and let that infamous "Somebody Else" do it all for you?

The Millennium Resolution for the United Kingdom reads as follows:

Let there be:
Respect for the earth
Peace for its people
Love in our lives
Delight in the good
Forgiveness for past wrongs
And from now on a new start.

May I warmly encourage you to consider what you can do to help make a new start for our two communities. The names of your local Parish, District and County Councillors are widely published and available. We shall be eagerly waiting to hear from you with your ideas and offers of help. Together, from now on, let us make a new start.