Town centre steering group chaos as Tories oust chairman

Councillor Eckersley-Fallon has been removed as chairman and replaced by fellow Tory councillor Andrea Finney

Bolton Council has removed the Westhoughton town centre steering group chairman, Bernadette Eckersley-Fallon, and replaced her with another Tory councillor, Andrea Finney. 

In a press statement the council claims that a new chairman has been “appointed” by the steering group. 

Councillor David Wilkinson said: “This is untrue. Steering group members have not met to make this appointment. The council has resorted to making things up. 

“The current leadership has been deeply ineffective so we welcome having a new chair, but the group should be able to make the appointment.

“The steering group didn’t meet for more than a year, then the Tories came out with a plan for two restaurants and a cafe for the town hall which hadn’t been approved by anyone and proved to be unpopular with residents. Together with gutting the Carnegie Hall and the upper floor of the library and wasting money on fancy paving stones, this Tory run council has made one giant mess of our regeneration.”