Letter Better facilities are needed for Westhoughton

The Bolton News (August 19) invited us to ‘have our say on new plan for homes and jobs’ alongside a photo of a large area of green fields at Wingates, Westhoughton is already a building site with huge tracts of green field being bulldozed and built on. Hundreds of new homes will be being lived in by 2022.

I came to Westhoughton as a refugee from the blitz of Birmingham when you would be lucky to see five cars on the roads in a day. The road layout in Westhoughton has hardly changed since 1950, apart from the 400 yards long Cricketers Way.

‘Public consultation’ is a joke amongst councillors, developers, builders and government ministers. We live in a town which is gridlocked if a cone is put in the road; the only sports facilities are part of a clapped-out school where the gym cannot be used during the day. Primary schools are full.

The main street has more curry houses than the curry mile in Manchester, the two railway stations are inaccessible, there are no public toilets, the market is in private hands, the golf course is to be built on, rights of way are being blocked, I will not go on. Of course housing is needed, but so is the infrastructure to support that housing if you are not building future ghettos.

A bit of consultation input then: complete Atherleigh Way to the roundabout at the top of Park Road, build a new medical centre on the old Empire cinema site in Westhoughton (or on the old fairground), no more curry houses or butty shops, refurbish and open up accessible public toilets, build a fitness centre and skateboard area for kids (Empire site or fairground), new high school needed, create better access to what greenery is left, again I will not go on.

I can already hear the laughter from councillors, developers, builders and ministers, many of whom do not live near Westhoughton. Claiming to oppose more building is not an excuse for not demanding better infrastructures to meet more building.

Ron Shambley

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