Plan to end traffic chaos

They have set aside a sum of £15,000 in their budget next year for a traffic management study at the junction of Wearish Lane and Wigan Road.

The junction is a bottleneck at peak commuter times with queues of traffic on Wearish Lane unable to get out onto the A58 Wigan Road.

Labour Cllr Mrs Linda Thomas, leader of Westhoughton town council, said that it is a top priority for the next 12 months.

She said: "There have been a lot of new houses built in the area over the last ten years and this means there is a lot of extra traffic now using Wearish Lane.

"It needs some form of traffic management. Bolton Council would carry out the study to see what is needed, but I would have thought it would be traffic lights or a roundabout."

Precept

Meanwhile, Westhoughton town council has set a precept of £93,650 over the next 12 months from Bolton Council.

It will mean that average band D council tax payers in Westhoughton will pay £13.94 on top of the council tax set by Bolton Council.

This is a reduction from the £15.24 which they were paying last year year.

Cllr Mrs Thomas said: "We have managed to cut the amount paid last year. We feel that we are giving good value for money."

Town councillors want to set aside £38,500 from this to fund a drop-in centre for young people which has been set up on Bolton Road, near the junction with Market Street.

They also want to spend £2,000 on environmental improvements at Hall Lee Bank Park and there will be a £12,000 millennium fund which will be divided between schools in the town.

There will also be money set aside to make sure that everyone in Westhoughton has access to the council's 24-hour emergency Careline service.

Mrs Thomas said that the council would be able to pay the line rental of pensioners who currently could not afford to have Careline installed.

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