Westhoughton’s only Labour councillor votes for building on green fields
Council documents show that Westhoughton’s only Labour councillor back the green fields building plans
Westhoughton’s only Labour councillor on Bolton Council has voted for plans to build on up to 2,000 more acres of green fields.
The new “Places for Everyone” plan, which paves the way for even more uncontrolled development around Westhoughton, won the approval of Labour councillor David Chadwick, despite residents’ frustrations with infrastructure that can already barely cope.
Residents fear that they will be stuck in even more traffic and will struggle even more to access doctors and dentists.
All your Liberal Democrat councillors for Westhoughton - Councillors Deirdre McGeown, Neil Maher, Arthur Price and David Wilkinson - voted against the plans.
Councillor Neil Maher said: “We’ve had a massive response to my recent health survey and Westhoughton residents are telling me loud and clear that they are struggling to access local health services. Many are waiting more than 4 weeks to see a GP, lots of people have had to go private for dental care and, even worse, some are waiting hours and hours at Bolton’s A&E department."
“Residents have also told me how they’re fed up of being stuck in endless traffic on our broken roads - and they’re worried about losing even more green space as the town’s population grows.”
Liberal Democrats are also concerned about how developers are getting away without paying their fair share of “Section 106” money - that’s money that they are obligated to give to communities when building new homes.
Councillor Deirdre McGeown said: “If the developers are coming to Westhoughton they should be paying their fair share to contribute to our community, not just take from it. Labour run Bolton Council doesn’t have a grip on the issue and developers are being allowed to get away with making huge profits and then moving onto the next project.”
Councillor Deirdre McGeown wants to see developers pay their fair share
