A series of six pre-budget consultation meetings will take place around the borough ahead of Bolton Council’s budget being set.

The Westhoughton meeting will take place on Thursday 14th January at 7pm and will be held at the Lostock Parish Centre next to the church.

However the council told us that the meetings “are not area forums and other issues will not be considered for discussion at these meetings.”

The next Westhoughton Area Forum will take place 10th March at Westhoughton High School at 6.30pm. For more information on the Area Forum meetings, click here to view the council website.

Campaigner Derek Gradwell with Parliamentary Candidate Jackie Pearcey.

Bolton Council is to review its decision to resurface Wingates Lane and Church Lane.

Liberal Democrat campaigner Derek Gradwell was blazing when he heard that the resurfacing work has not been carried out because the council is no longer sure it has the money for it.

The work should have been finished by 9th October, as we told you in residents in a Focus newsletter.

Now the Labour-run council says it needs to check whether it will be able to afford the entire programme that they set out at the start of the year.

“We thank all of you who have been dropping us messages of support over the last few weeks, but I’m afraid everyone will be disappointed today by the council’s decision,” said Derek.

Our latest Focus newsletter on the issue

“It makes you think what kind of council is being run by Labour with this latest news on top of the fiasco over the bins, which is still ongoing,” he added.

Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, Jackie Pearcey, added: “We will continue to press for action of this. They will not be let off the hook so easily.”

Tell us what you think by e-mailing focus@westhoughton-libdems.org.uk or using the comments feature below.

The new street sign on Hunts Bank

When Bolton Council replaced a decaying street sign for Hunts Bank, residents were shocked to find that they spelt the name WRONG.

The council had spelt the street name as one word – “Huntsbank” – but after the mistake being pointed out by your Liberal Democrat councillors the signs were corrected.

Ward councillor David Wilkinson commented: “It looks well when our borough council can’t even spell Westhoughton street names correctly. It just shows that Westhoughton really is not a priority to the Labour-run council.”

Remember how recycling started in Bolton with the green boxes? Councillor Julia Silvester pictured with one of the old boxes. The scheme has now expanded massively in line with Government targets.

A massive overhaul of the waste collection service will affect every home in Bolton from this month.

Now Westhoughton’s household waste bins will all be collected on the same day – Mondays. Residents are to be informed by letter and leaflets will be stuck to bins informing people of the decision which comes into effect from 21 September.

The borough has been split into 5 zones, each of which will have their waste collected on a separate day Monday to Friday. Bolton Council decided that all 35 of their waste collection vehicles will operate in the same zone as each other in a bid to be more cost-effective and environmentally friendly.

The green bin collection service has also been cut back by the Labour-run council.

The Labour Executive Member on Bolton Council for Cleaner, Greener and Safer has decided to reduce the Green Bin collection for a third of the year, instead of fortnightly collections in December, January, February and March, there will a monthly collection instead. This is to save nearly £82,000.

Bolton Council is now hoping that the 1646 tonnes which was collected in these four months in 08/09 will in future fit into the monthly green bin collections.

Cllr David Wilkinson has asked the council to investigate the idea of a scheme of cheap compost bins for residents to produce their own compost if the council is reducing the Green Bin collection.

Councillor Julia Silvester at the traffic lights funded by the Liberal Democrat-controlled town council at the time

Labour blunders have led to the traffic speeding chaos that we have on Wigan Road today, says a leading councillor.

Ward councillor David Wilkinson has blasted the Labour administration of years-gone-by for continuing to allow housing developments in Daisy Hill without any regard for improvement to the highway infrastructure on Wearish Lane and Wigan Road. He said: “They continued to let more and more houses go up, which has put increasing pressure on this hotspot.”

Things came to a head nine years ago when there was a massive pile-up of cars along the stretch of Wigan Road that has been brought to the forefront recently after an accident involving an 11-year-old boy. Cllr Wilkinson recalls seeing car parts strewn across the road in the pile-up: “That was a pretty dramatic turn of events, which motivated the Liberal Democrat controlled town council at the time to pay for new traffic lights at the junction.”

Councillor David Wilkinson who has revealed Labour's blunders

At the time the town council had demanded that Bolton Council take action, but the pleas were ignored, and they went ahead to fund the scheme themselves.

But later, when a similar scheme to build a new pelican crossing on Church Street outside the doctors surgery was put forward, the Labour-run administration refused to back it. It was only when the Liberal Democrats took control of Bolton Council that the plan was given the green light.

Cllr Wilkinson added: “What has happened with the junction at Wigan Road has echoes all around the town, in particular of the events over Church Street. Bolton’s Labour-run Council has been quick to allow more houses, but they are not so forthcoming when it comes to improving pedestrian and highway safety.”

The fountain in Ditchfield Gardens

Councillors on the Labour-run Westhoughton Town Council will be left embarrassed after a GLARING inaccuracy were made in their report into the new Pretoria Pit memorial statue plans.

Their report is based on plans to erect a new statue in Ditchfield Gardens, at the end of Market Street, to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the Pretoria Pit mining disaster.

The Town Council states that an idea to move the existing water fountain in the gardens (pictured) “may be perceived as disrespectful to the Ditchfield family which sited the water fountain in memory of two deceased sons.”

Despite a site visit where Labour’s town council representatives would have ample opportunity to inspect the fountain properly, they FAILED to realise that the fountain was placed there in memory of John Chadwick’s two sons – one of whom died at a young age, and the other drowned off Scotland.

The gaffe was made all the more embarrassing when it was revealed that this very information is presented in the town guide, which was produced by Westhoughton Town Council themselves.

Westhoughton Town Council make embarrassing gaffe

Ward councillor David Wilkinson was shocked by the mistake. He said: “Not only is this embarrassing for the Labour councillors, but it also raises the question as to whether the rest of the information provided in the report is reliable. I have asked Bolton Council to tell me if officers have really looked into the issues properly, or have they just been put under pressure to pass the plans.”

“I also raised concerns about the plan to use granite slabs. These are similar to gravestones and we all know that these are regular broken and vandalised. They would potentially pose a safety risk and could be a costly mistake to boot. When I asked about this at a recent meeting, my question was answered by a town council representative, but I want answers from Bolton Council who will be ultimately response for the maintenance of the statue as it falls within their gardens.”

The Westhoughton Liberal Democrat website is happy to publish a picture of the water fountain here, highlighting the embarrassing mistake made.

Westhoughton Town Hall does what Bolton Town Hall says it should do

Some residents may have been shocked to see that the Christmas lights have already been put up in Westhoughton town centre – THREE MONTHS early.

Ward councillor David Wilkinson was surprised to see the lights being erected when he was travelling home. Later, he questioned the council as to why it was being arranged so early.

A council spokesman told Cllr Wilkinson that the festive lights in Bolton were being extended with new displays but that they were “not expecting delivery of the new displays until November and as such we have had to re-organize our resources to work on the outer districts earlier this year to enable us to complete the town centre work prior to the switch on the 3rd December”.

David commented: “It is absolutely barmy that we have to have our lights up three months early just because the Labour-run Westhoughton Town Council does what it’s told by its Big Brother-council in Bolton.

“It makes a mockery of the Christmas season. I had only been out of town for the afternoon, but I felt like I had been away for a lot longer when I returned to find the festive lights all ready to go.”

David was quoted in the Bolton News on Friday, 18 September as saying: “I just think it is a joke. It just makes a mockery of the Christmas lights. If we have to put something up in September for December there is something really amiss.

“I think it is ridiculous that we have to start putting up Christmas lights three months before Christmas. It is a farce. They might as well turn them on while they are at it.”

Bolton Council is to hold a series of public consultations

Westhoughton’s pupils, parents and residents are to be consulted on how best to improve the town’s primary schools through the Primary Capital Programme (PCP).

Consultation will take place through letters to parents letting them know about the consultation process.  There will be a series of meetings across Bolton which the general public are welcome to attend. The full consultation document will be available on Bolton Council’s website from 15 September.

A meeting will take place to discuss the overall programme at the Gates Community Primary School on 21 September between 2:30pm and 6pm, and anyone is welcome to drop in at any point.

The programme is a government plan that aims to bring primary schools across the country up to modern standards.

Over the next 13 years, Bolton Council will receive funding totalling £80m through PCP, which will be used to refurbish and rebuild around half of the borough’s primary schools.

The money will help to create additional pupil places to meet Bolton’s growth in population, meaning that a higher proportion of pupils will secure a place at their preferred school.

Work has been split into phases, and some of the schools earmarked for the first phase have had small extensions this summer but, if approved, any significant expansion work will not be carried out until after this consultation is complete – in most cases beginning later this year.

Any schools that have plans for rebuilding or for extremely large-scale refurbishment will be the subject of further, more detailed consultation aimed at local residents.

Residents and road users are being asked for their views on winter gritting in Bolton.

In light of last winter’s difficult conditions, Bolton Council is reviewing its approach to gritting, and wants feedback on its service.

A survey asking people for their views on the policy is available online at www.bolton.gov.uk/wintergritting or call the consultation and research team on 01204 332012 to obtain a paper copy.

Westhoughton South Liberal Democrat Cllr David Wilkinson called for a review in December and said he was pleased people in Bolton would be part of it. Cllr Wilkinson, who sits on the winter gritting panel, said: “We have learned a lot so far in terms of the work that goes into the gritting operation and I am delighted that people who use the roads will also get their say.”

A Council spokesperson said: “We know it may seem a bit daft to be talking about winter gritting in May but we want to know what the public see as priorities before we put together our next winter gritting scheme.

He added: “We do grit around half of our total road network, which is more than a lot of other local authorities. Following some of the most severe weather conditions in 20 years, the council actually spent an extra £580,000 last winter to make roads and footpaths safer for local residents and road users.”

There are currently 25 gritting routes totalling 430km of road, and around 30 to 40 tonnes of salt are used each time the routes are gritted. The council also places 533 grit bins around the borough.

Council crews work around the clock if there is snow forecast or if the temperature of the road surface is anticipated to freeze.

The Winter Scrutiny committee, comprising councillors from all the Council’s political parties, will look all the feedback received and use this as a basis to make recommendations for the next winter gritting maintenance scheme. 

These will be then developed further during an Environmental Services Policy Development Group.

The closing date for feedback is Friday, June 13.

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