WITH the rest of the country sunk in gloom 'n' doom, worried about the politics at Westminster and the disastrous state of our public finances, Torbay has been making progress.

We have been putting together the building blocks for economic recovery. Many regeneration projects are now underway. In the Town Hall we have been working hard to improve services, as well as keeping a firm grip on expenditure.

But across Torbay I have been especially struck by the continuing strong sense of community. We really are fortunate to have so many groups and organisations prepared to roll their sleeves up and make this a better place.

Of course, nowhere can be immune to the worldwide recession and I accept for many people it will have been a difficult year. Unemployment is too high, and there is a desperate need for more affordable houses.

But there is much worth celebrating in Torbay and, in no particular order (and always mindful I shall have left out somebody) here are my favourite 40 highlights of 2009.

1) The award of 'outstanding' status to South Devon College and the start of work on their new Higher Education building. This really is a world class facility for Torbay.

2) The new Paignton Library and Civic Hub rapidly taking shape. At last, something new for Paignton town centre. It will give the town a real boost, whatever folk decide to call it.

3) The Mayoral Vision has won more awards and is doing what it set out to do: encouraging investment in a place which needs it. Plans are progressing for sites across Torbay.

4) The Town Centres Company is working hard on promotions and events. New shops and restaurants are opening up with more to come early next year.

5) Our new Tourism Strategy has been approved by the council and will bring the different tourism groups together to promote Torbay, improve the quality of our tourism offer and attract higher spending visitors.

6) The council has approved — with unanimous support — the creation of an Economic Regeneration Company to deliver regeneration. It will have greater independence from the council and be more entrepreneurial in culture.

7) The first phase of the Cary Arms project has been completed and is a great success, generating fantastic publicity for Torbay and proving it is worthwhile to aim high.

8) The Business Incubation project at Lymington Road has been equally successful and is now full — providing support for new businesses and our future prosperity. The recent Business Incubation Champion award is richly deserved.

9) The Brixham Fish Quay project is well underway — the first business units were completed in the summer.

10) The Business Excellence awards, supported by the Herald Express, was a hugely upbeat occasion and celebrated the success of many new and innovative Torbay businesses.

11) The £1 weekend parking initiative was very popular in the spring and is being repeated in the run-up to Christmas. As I said in my last essay, if you want us to keep doing it: use it!

12) Victoria Parade, Torquay, is looking much better with the Queen's Hotel pretty much restored. Elsewhere, work continues to complete the Rock Walk project, repair Torre Abbey steps and install new coloured lights.

13) The Sea Change Project is underway at Berry Head and will provide a new café and visitors centre. Plans have been approved for the Sea Change Project for an arts/crafts business centre at Cockington.

14) The Admiral Pool at Brixham is much appreciated and I was delighted to attend the grand opening. Well done for all the community fundraising and well done Torbay Council for our £350,000 contribution.

15) Elsewhere in the port of Brixham there is a renaissance of community activity: special mention to Mary Thompson's Pride in Brixham group, the Pirates, various friends groups, Brixham Does Care and BOADS for their brilliant production of Oliver!.

16) Our first ever Torbay Pride weekend brought more pink pounds into the Bay's economy, the Mr Gay Torbay was a fun night out (really the Christine Hamilton show) and the Rainbow Ball continues to raise funds for good causes.

17) The Antony Gormley Exhibition at the Spanish Barn drew thousands more people into Torbay and put Torre Abbey on the map. It provided a wonderful talking point and inspiration for some splendid letters in the Herald.

18) Just over the Torbay border, the opening of Greenway House has added to our list of quality attractions and is a magnet for Agatha Christie fans. This year's festival included a delightful production of radio plays.

19) Our parks and gardens looked superb through the summer and were still looking superb for the Britain in Bloom awards in September. Congratulations to our council staff and friends groups for the Silver and Silver Gilt 'Blooms' awards, also their Green Flags.

20) Our Children's Services have been awarded the accolade 'performing well' by Ofsted — the first time we have achieved this distinction. A huge effort has been made to improve outcomes for our most vulnerable children and young people.

21) Plans for the 'My Place' project at Parkfield, Paignton, have been approved and will provide wonderful facilities for older children — who have been involved in the design.

22) The 'new' Torquay Community College is nearly complete. Kings Ash School was opened in the summer. There is new accommodation at Sherwell Valley, Brixham Church of England and elsewhere. The new artificial sports pitch is being completed at Paignton College.

23) The £1 evening bus fare for youngsters in December is a great step forward. Again, use it, if you want it to be repeated.

24) Local Democracy Week provided young people with the opportunity to air their views and find out how politics works. I really enjoyed the dinner and debate at Cuthbert Mayne School, also the 'Your Bay Your Say' at South Devon College.

25) Torbay's talented youngsters provided a marvellous Schools Festival in February when thousands took part. Other highlights have included Torquay Boys' (and Girls') Les Miserables, Churston's Step in Time, Paignton's Aladdin and the youth production of Hairspray at Westlands School.

26) Sir Ian Carruthers, chief executive of the South West Strategic Health Authority, visited in October and was full of praise for our joined-up arrangements to provide adult social care. He was also hugely complimentary about Torbay's health service.

27) The rebuild of the Factory Row hostel for the homeless — now the Leonard Stock Centre — is something we can all be proud of. It is important we provide support for people in desperate circumstances.

28) The pathfinder neighbourhood improvement project at Hele is a first for Torbay and lessons learned here will enable us to improve the quality of life for our least well off. Health, housing, the police and fire services will work closely with Torbay Council and residents.

29) The partnership of Sanctuary Housing — one of the largest and most respected names in social housing — with Riviera Housing will lead to an improvement in service, also the quality (and quantity, hopefully) of our housing stock.

30) The supported living project is taking shape at Dunboyne, St Marychurch, and will provide independent accommodation for older people

31-40) Help, Mr Editor, I am running out of space! But I would just like to mention: the extra money on its way, hopefully, for concessionary bus fares next year (after much lobbying), the lowest ever council tax rise, crime figures going in the right direction, the tremendous work of our Street Pastors, Street Wardens and Junior Street Wardens, the speedy work to make Hollicombe Beach safe, the new operators for Quay West at Goodrington, the visit of HMS Ark Royal, the new Centre for Innovation, Training and Research building at Torbay Hospital and our effective campaign to reduce litter, dog fouling and anti-social behaviour. Also, the Edginswell Business Park is taking shape, Waitrose opened at Plainmoor and Torquay United gained promotion. What a year!

Merry Christmas, everybody! It will be a well deserved break, indeed, for all those folk who work to make Torbay a better place.

Although, of course, many will be working hard through the holiday, including some of our council's cleansing team.

I really do appreciate their good work.