DOZENS of people attended the first meeting to discuss creating a long-term strategic vision for Colchester.

Neatly 40 people attended the first Colchester Town Assembly meeting at Colchester Town Hall to discuss the launch of the We Are Colchester partnership, which has been created to bid for up to £25 million in Government funding.

Residents had the chance to share their initial thoughts and ideas, which together with the results of a public survey responded to by nearly 300 people, will shape a Town Investment Plan.

Colchester has been chosen as one of 100 areas across the UK to bid for funding, which will help to bring in further cash from other sources to bring the vision to reality.

Simon Blaxill is chairman of the We Are Colchester board which includes public, private and voluntary groups.

He said: "Colchester is a rich and vibrant place – but there is so much more we can do with everyone working together to further unlock our economic potential for the benefit of everyone living and working in the borough.

“Last night’s event gave us a great opportunity to bring people from a wide range of backgrounds across the borough together to give us a broad range of local views.

“We will be looking to run more of these assembly events as the plan develops to ensure we have an approach that enables us to develop every opportunity supporting our future prosperity and job creation.”