The application, which has been received by Bolton Council, is for the site of the former Greenfields Private Members’ Club off the Wigan Road/Cricketers Way junction.

The planning application number is 81747/09 if residents wish to submit their views to the council. You can have your views included through the council’s website at www.bolton.gov.uk.

The former club, located at the junction of Wigan Road and Cricketers Way, was going to be demolished to make way for new apartments.

But the plans fell through and LIDL want to open a new store after buying the site. They hope to submit a planning application in February but will first open the idea up to public consultation and launch an open day.

The town is growing in size and still only has two Co-op supermarkets to cater for its population.

Labour councillors have consistently hampered the public’s choice of shopping facilities in Westhoughton. They said NO to plans for a Tesco on Manchester Road, yet only days after the store opened two Labour councillors were spotted in the store.

They opposed plans for the new Sainsbury’s store on Cricketers Way, potentially denying brand new facilities for our local cricket and rugby clubs, as well as losing money for Market Street footpath improvements.

They also:
- Cut the town’s market hall in HALF
- Opposed plans for a new clothing store
- Opposed plans for a new restaurant to replace a betting shop
- Said YES to 3 new estate agents, but only one was established because of the collapse in the housing market.

We’d like to know what you think about the plans for a LIDL store – will this be a good idea for Westhoughton? Post a comment on this news item or e-mail your views to focus@westhoughton-libdems.org.uk.

The club, located at the junction of Wigan Road and Cricketers Way, was going to be demolished to make way for new apartments.But the plans fell through and now it is being suggested that ALDI want to launch a new store on the site.

The town is growing in size and still only has two Co-op supermarkets to cater for its population.

Labour councillors have consistently hampered the public’s choice of shopping facilities in Westhoughton.

They said NO to plans for a Tesco on Manchester Road, yet only days after the store opened two Labour councillors were spotted in the store.

They opposed plans for the new Sainsbury’s store on Cricketers Way, potentially denying brand new facilities for our local cricket and rugby clubs, as well as losing money for Market Street footpath improvements.

They also:

• Cut the town’s market hall in HALF

• Opposed plans for a new clothing store

• Opposed plans for a new restaurant to replace a betting shop

• Said YES to 3 new estate agents, but only one was established because of the collapse in the housing market.

Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s plans for a £7.5 million store off Cricketer’s Way have been passed by Bolton Council.

The supermarket will create around 220 new jobs in the town.

Last year, when it was revealed that Sainsburys were thinking of coming to Westhoughton, we ran a survey of residents on whether they thought it would be a good idea. We had several hundred replies and three in four were in favour of the idea. Some people were opposed because they would have preferred stores such as ALDI, LIDL and Netto. We understand that two of these supermarkets had also expressed an interest in sites in Westhoughton.

Others were opposed to the loss of the existing cricket ground. Others say there are enough stores within a five mile radius of Westhoughton such as Tesco. They say there is no need for another store.

We’d like to hear your views. Post a comment below to start discussing the issue. Posts not related to the plans will be removed.