WHEN Monmouthshire elected Labour councillors as the majority party 18 months ago, we made it absolutely clear that we would work collaboratively and without fear of crossing what have been traditional political divides.

It has been an approach which we have tried to engender in our council chamber, with a formal agreement with Councillor Ian Chandler of the Green Party and a truly independent chairman in Councillor Meirion Howells.

And our ability to look across divides and boundaries has meant that a week ago, in a groundbreaking development, Monmouthshire signed an historic agreement with three other neighbouring county councils to bring a new level of stability and prosperity to us and the wider region.

The Marches Forward Partnership will serve almost three quarters of a million people bringing together Monmouthshire with Herefordshire, Shropshire and Powys.

We have pledged to work closely together to secure funding from both the Welsh and Westminster governments – and we hope others – by offering a new approach.

Whatever our differences, we all accept that we have more in common and share geography, economic outlook and ambition.

Target issues will include aspects of our joint experiences for rural economies and green growth. Climate change, housing, tourism, transport, skills and the digital world are all within our reach.

The aim has been to establish areas where there is mutual benefit and added value in working together, supporting each other’s strategic aims and leveraging combined knowledge, resources and activities. Geographically, the neighbouring four authorities cover an area which straddles more than 80 per cent of the Welsh-English border.

We recognise the immense opportunities that the partnership can open up and by working together, we can better tackle the shared challenges facing us all.

Our local team have shown no difficulty in working so flexibly. Whether one sees economic, cultural, social, or ethnic issues on a regional, national or even international scale, one can always make progress by considering the greater good.

Apart from anything else, it offers a sense of optimism and opportunity that is in such desperately short supply in today’s divided world.