I NOTE with alarm the planned increase in community charge of two per cent that comes into force this April.

Firstly I find this a cynical increase in that it is always announced that there is a charge freeze when an election is on the horizon and as soon as the desired result is achieved it is then hiked up to the maximum increase possible.

With the caveat that it is someone else’s doing that this price increase has been ‘forced upon the council’.

Secondly I think that in Leigh and other towns there should be a reduction!

This is due to the fact that since 1974 and the absorption of us under WMBC there has been a steady decrease in the supply of jobs in this town.

You only have to hark back to firms should as BICC, David Browns Engineering, Volex, Sutcliffe Speakmans, numerous mills and two coal mines to think of some of the bigger employers that abounded at that time.

Probably, in total, a drop of around 7,000 jobs.

Nothing has been done to replace their demise and bring in new investment, or alternatively to improve high speed and modern transport links to Manchester/Liverpool to make up for that loss!

Thirdly any facilities that existed in the various towns have been centralised and enhanced in one town. Examples being Wigan and Leigh College, Wigan and Leigh Mags, closure of A&E at Leigh and a consequent expansion at Albert Edward and promised maternity unit at Leigh, which reappeared in the usual place.

Not to mention the plethora of facilities that have sprung up, such as Trencherfield Mill, Museum of Wigan Life, Youth Zone, two sports centres, £6.5 million spent on Mesnes Park and no end of investment in Haigh Hall.

All of this is new, exclusive and happened in one place since 1974.

Sadly there is no such investment for Formby Hall, which is due to be demolished, or the old Leigh Fire station that awaits the same fate!

All of this enhances the economics of one town at the expense of the others. Newspaper shops, takeaways, shops, restaurants etc all gain in trade, which then has a kick-back factor in that they feel able to invest in special occasions, such as Christmas lights etc.

This further enhances the experience for the residents of that town.

On the other hand the reductions produce the opposite effect.

The price rises though are iniquitous in that they are demanded equally from residents throughout the borough, even though elsewhere no comparable investment or significant gains or improvements take place.

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