HARLOW Council is spearheading a campaign to improve Harlow's image as a nice place to live and work.

The 2020 committee -- which aims to establish a draft stategy over the next two decades -- was officially launched at a meeting of the town hall last Wednesday.

Members of various groups in the town, including the police, health authority, schools and charity organisations, will work towards engendering a sense of pride in the community, and encouraging more people to visit, work, shop, and relocate in Harlow.

It comes in the wake of several recent criticisms of the town, including the upsetting interview of a Harlow College student by a Cambridge don and a derogatory comment about Harlow in the TV series The Bill.

Harlow MP Bill Rammell, who is one of the committee's members, said: "I am very keen on this initiative. There have been a couple of instances recently where we have been particularly criticised.

"A major example is when Barclays had the chance to move to Basildon or Harlow, and they opted for Basildon because staff told them they didn't want to move to Harlow."

Over the next few years, the committee will be discussing how to boost the town, by holding discussions with several groups in the town, including young people.

Early proposals also include producing a quarterly quality magazine on what Harlow has to offer such as evening and weekend activities, and updates on developments.

Another suggestion was to launch a competition in the Citizen asking residents to come up with a slogan to promote Harlow, on the same lines as Glasgow's slogan -- Glasgow's Miles Better.

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