TAKING BACK CONTROL - we believe that the role of Westhoughton Town Council should be increased in local Government. Additional powers should be devolved to the Town Council from Bolton MBC over matters which concern Westhoughton.
PUSHING FOR A FAIR DEAL - Westhoughton residents contribute approximately £20 million to Bolton MBC in Council Tax payments. We think Westhoughton deserves a fair share of this to be re-invested in the Town - at the moment we do not seem to be receiving a fair deal from our Tory-led coalition Council.
OPPOSING HOUSE BUILDING - we will oppose the building of new houses in Westhoughton. For too long now, planning application after planning application has been waved through by Bolton Council - often for homes which profess to be 'affordable' but turn out to be anything but. We believe that there are too many new homes being built in Westhoughton and that the town simply does not have the infrastructure in place to cope, let alone the places at Schools, Dentists and Doctors. There are also plenty of vacant properties currently for sale or to rent in Westhoughton, which will satisfy any demand for homes in the town.
PROTECTING OUR GREENBELT - we will strive to protect what is left of our valuable green belt land in Westhoughton. We believe that any development (if approved by Bolton Council) should be limited to brownfield, or 'previously developed' land. We should not be destroying our greenbelt.
INVESTING IN OUR INFRASTRUCTURE - we will push for investment in local infrastructure. Our roads and pavements are often left neglected and in a state of disrepair for months on end whilst waiting for a 'patch up' repair job; our road layout could be improved in various locations in the town to allow for better flow of traffic; and, where possible, pavements could be narrowed to allow room for buses to collect passengers without stopping the flow of traffic on main roads.
OPPOSING ANY RISE IN COUNCIL TAX GENERAL LEVY - we will oppose any attempt to increase the Council Tax General Levy in 2022/23. The General Levy is the amount that Bolton Council can raise Council Tax by in order to fund any council service. Residents saw year on year increases under the previous Labour administration (up to 2019/20), whilst under the current Tory-led coalition Council the General Levy was not increased for 2020/21. We do accept that the Adult Social Care Precept ought to be increased in order to support vital services to some of our most vulnerable members of the community. This is in part due to the ageing population placing extra demand on adult services.
INCREASING LEVELS OF RECYCLING - we will push for a move to a weekly collection of the green bin. A move which we believe will lead to increased levels of recycling not just in Westhoughton, but across the Borough. Food waste is put in to the green bin as well as garden waste, and so a move to weekly collections would help to ensure that the risk of overflowing bins, poor hygiene, risk of vermin and any increase in fly tipping is avoided.
HELPING YOUNG FAMILIES - we will push for young families to have the option to request an additional slim bin; we understand that additional space may be needed to throw away disposable nappies. Currently Bolton Council requires you to have three children in nappies to qualify for a large grey bin via a 'waste audit'. Our proposal would be for an additional slim bin to be provided (upon request) to young families with one or more children in nappies, until such time as the child reaches the age of 4. A small one-off payment would be proposed in order to assist with costs.
PROTECTING THE COMMUNITY - we believe that all public buildings in Westhoughton and the wider Bolton borough should have external, publicly accessible AED's aka Defibrillators. It should not fall solely on private individuals to offer such a facility and Bolton Council should lead the way. According to the Resuscitation Council (UK), only 3% of cardiac arrests happen within the recommended retrieval distance of a defibrillator - this needs to change.
Finally, we pride ourselves in having resident-led policies. If you wish to contribute to our local policies, please do get in contact with us.
