Welcome To My Blog

A new thing for me, taking advantage of the wonders of modern technology to inform, voice my opinions on matters that effect us here in Westhoughton, and give people an idea of who Jack Speight is and why I want to represent you.

This blog is inspired by my belief that you should be confident that you are being listened to, and that  issues that you consider important are being addressed. As a Councillor and local resident, I feel that this proud town of great character and heritage of once thriving cotton mills, coal pits, railway stations, a high street and market where you could get everything you needed, is being neglected. It seems forever missing out through the lack of investment, while more and more housing development takes place putting a further strain on local resources and services; roads are gridlocked whenever an incident happens as it tries to cope with the sheer volume of rush-hour traffic. Since I have lived in Westhoughton, I have seen the loss of our Police Station, Job Centre, Council yard and Town Hall services; our clinic and the more recent announcement of the loss of respite beds from the Winifred Kettle Home only adding further cuts to our community. Are we as an area taking the brunt of cuts in spending in Bolton? Does Westhoughton – a town of 25,000 – get its fair share of the expenditure?

Thanks to the internet, I want to take advantage and communicate on matters that concern our community. As an independent councillor, I do not have the finances nor the political machine of larger, established parties, but what I do have is the drive and conviction to address the same issues that affect you here in Westhoughton. You have every right to expect that an elected councillor - independent or not - to serve you and tackle the problems that impinge on our neighbourhood.

Just take the simplest of things, like filling in potholes on our streets or the cutting the grass verge on the roadside. If our Councils cannot get this right, then no wonder millions of pounds are lost through poor management, party politics and infighting, which seem to do more harm than good.

Enough is enough! We should stop this erosion of our neighbourhood and put pride back into our achievements and our Westhoughton identity.

Fortunately being independent, I am only answerable to you the electorate and with a common sense of purpose I want the very best for our community. I know we have a really good town and with your help, we can make Westhoughton an even better place to be an live.

I know things take time but I also know we have a strong community spirit and I want to share some of my experiences and yours through this blog. I invite and encourage you to comment, exchange views and share experiences, raise questions and seek answers. Though please be polite and respectful. Everyone has a right to be wrong.

Thank you for taking time in reading this blog. I hope it has been helpful to you.

Cllr Jack Speight