Potholes and town centre living: Voters in Farnworth have their say

The second largest town in the borough has a smattering of shoppers on Market Street but its a huge, under construction new housing, retail and leisure development which dominates the skyline.

Developers Capital & Centric say the Farnworth Green project is "a re-boot of the outdated precinct into a town centre neighbourhood".

The Farnworth Green development is set to be completed later this year

Due to open before the end of 2024, Farnworth Green will have 85 one and two bedroom flats and 12 family homes, 20,000sq/ft of space for bars, cafés and independent stores, a ground floor community hub and a new public square.

Boundary changes ahead of the July 4 General Election mean Farnworth is in the newly named constituency of Bolton South and Walkden.

It includes the Bolton wards of Farnworth North, Farnworth South, Great Lever, Kearsley, Queens Park and Central (part), Rumworth (nearly all) and a very small part of Hulton along with the City of Salford wards of Little Hulton, Walkden North and Walkden South.

Yasmin Qureshi has been the Labour MP for the previously named Bolton South East area since 2010.

Other declared candidates standing for the parliamentary seat are Mohammed Afzal (Conservative), Gemma-Jane Bowker (Lib Dem), Jack Khan (Workers Party), Philip Kochitty (Green) and Julie Pattison (Reform).

One of the features of politics in the town has been the success in local elections in recent years of independent parties, particularly Farnworth and Kearsley First, who currently have five councillors at the town hall.

However, with no hyper local party set to stand next month voters will be making another choice when they enter the ballot booth.

The Local Democracy Service visited Farnworth to ask people about their priorities for the town and who they will be supporting in next months’ election.

Anthony Hamer, 64, from Moses Gate, had travelled to Farnworth on his bike.

Anthony Hamer, from Moses Gate

He said: “I’ve been chatting to people about the Green Party and have been giving them some thought but I think I’ll probably vote Labour this time.

"I think what’s going on with the new development is positive, it’s got to be an improvement for Farnworth.

“I suppose my hope is that there will be some nice shops and cafés there, more people need to have a reason to come out to the town centre.”

Residents have had their say about Farnworth (Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)

Alex Summers, 32, from Walkden, said he would vote "for anyone who would sort the potholes out".

“They’re an issue for every road, user every day, the roads round here are a bloody disgrace", he said.

“Any party who fixed them quickly would get, my vote.

“On the national issues I will be voting Reform at the election. They stand for what a lot of people round here think on issues of migration and strengthening the borders.”

A man who only gave his name as Charlie said he wasn’t feeling optimistic about the transformation of central Farnworth.

He said: “For a start, where’s everybody living there going to park and what type of people will be living there?

“I miss the old market and when Farnworth was a town to be proud of.

“I won’t be voting, they are all the same. I say bring back fun candidates like Screaming Lord Sutch. At least he brought some entertainment to the elections.”

Tina Murphy, 43, from Kearsley, had visited the town centre with friends.

Tina Murphy on a shopping trip to Farnworth

She said she was undecided where she would cast her vote but was supportive of any moves to boost retail in Farnworth.

She said: “I love going to the shops. I enjoy the experience.

"I know a lot of shopping  has gone online but I don’t like that change to how people live their lives.

“I’ve not given a lot of though to who I’ll be voting for. To me it’s hard to believe a lot of what all of them say.”

David Mort, 64, is a born and bred Farnworth man who lives in the Causeway area.

David Mort said 'something had to be done' about the regeneration of Farnworth centre

He said: “Something had to be done as Farnworth has been in decline for a long time.

"I suppose it remains to be seen whether town centre living and the other developments around it will work but at least there’s something happening.

“The town needed it.”

David said he had on occasions supported hyper local parties in local elections but would be voting Labour on July 4.