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Borough Life Spring 2006

The Leader Column

By Peter Smith

Leader, Wigan Council

In a big organisation like Wigan Council, knowing who to contact when you need one of our services isn’t always easy. And for anyone at work during the week, it’s even harder. That’s why we’ve published a full A-Z directory of our services which you should receive with this edition of Borough Life.

At the same time, we’re taking steps to make it possible for people to get in touch with us outside the usual working week. We want to be an easy to contact, accessible organisation…and we want you to tell us if we’re not!

The news that Wigan is a four star council – and one of just a handful to be judged excellent for the fourth year running – is not some piece of vague PR spin.

It’s a judgement based on a really tough assessment by an independent national watchdog, the Audit Commission.

I hope it will be good news for local people because it shows that, overall, the council is providing high quality services – and using your hard-earned council tax efficiently to do so.

It’s almost a cliché nowadays that more people need to use public transport.

But for that to happen, our buses and trains need to be a more attractive alternative for motorists.

That’s why the decision by the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority to make off-peak local buses and trains free to anyone over 60 is so welcome.

It should directly improve the quality of life for thousands of our older residents, and indirectly benefit many more by cutting traffic pollution and congestion.

As Borough Life went to press, Wigan was buzzing in anticipation of the town’s first ever soccer cup final.

By the time you read this issue you will know the result – but whatever happened in Cardiff won’t have taken anything away from the fact that the club’s success this season has been a remarkable boost to the town and the whole borough.

It has put Wigan back on the national and international map, and the continuing good publicity will doubtless lead to more interest from people who want to invest in our borough. Well done, Latics!

Stepping up recycling efforts

40,000 homes added to green recycling rounds. The popular green waste home collection service is being extended. The council has been monitoring the initial trial to 40,000 properties around the borough...

Groundforce garden miracles

They cut three million square metres of grass a week, look after 4,000 trees and tend to an amazing 300,000 square metres of shrubbery...

Premiership bookworms

When he's not helping his team to premiership glory, Latics star Matt Jackson likes nothing better than burying his nose in a good book...

Wallace and Gromit live in Wigan

It’s finally official….Wallace and Gromit, the world-famous plasticine animated models created by Nick Park, DO live in Wigan.

Grow your own family tree

When Eric Winstanley suffered an injury at home that left him unable to work he suddenly found he had a lot of time on his hands. Never one to sit idle, Eric, who hails from Ashton-in-Makerfield, was keen to put this time to good use. So when a friend suggested he could research his family tree...

Pop stars honour council staff

Wigan Council is on a ‘ceaseless quest to learn from the best and move from being excellent to outstanding’, according to chief executive Joyce Redfearn...

Nuts about red squirrels

Squirrel Nutkin is alive and living in Wigan! A small colony of rare red squirrels, discovered in privately owned woods in Winstanley, is believed to be the only population in the whole of Greater Manchester...

Duke’s awards are just reward

It’s been described as a voyage of personal discovery, an opportunity to face up to new and exciting challenges – and to overcome them. Preparation for life. The Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards are nothing new...

Make sure of holiday heaven

You’ve worked hard all year, spent what seems like half your entire waking life in a traffic jam and put up with 364 days of rain for good measure...

Damping down fire risks

Thousands of Wigan households are dicing with death simply because they haven’t got round to fitting a smoke alarm, according to local fire chiefs...

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Diary date – the word is out [98kb]

It’s just four years old...but already the Words literary festival has become an essential event in the local calendar...

The drugs don’t work

The UK’s drugs and alcohol problems are well documented, and the social and economic costs are colossal...

Sports village update

College in pole position as sports village work starts. Bulldozers have moved in to start work on building the very first stage of Leigh Sports Village...

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