FURTHER to comments regarding living in proximity to Formby Hall.

The campaign concerning the saving of Formby Hall was also to bring attention to the historical legacy of the gift of the land to the Atherton township, the Wigan Council core strategy which quotes ‘like-for-like replacement’ and the manner of the sale and who actually benefited, as well as question if the other bids were subject to fair competition rules.

We take on board comments made and would never dismiss them.

If in 2008 there were no issues with the clientele and management then there shouldn’t have been any since.

Any issues described should have been containable right up until March 2016 as was the council’s and owners’ obligation.

We would never state people should not have bought a house there. It has been around for 100 years and is close to a football ground, so the area generally will at times attract large crowds for leisure purposes.

The process of demolition was all we could respond to at the planning committee. Therefore the comments made were concerning that and also it is the current owners, operators and council that were under obligation to keep the building safe.

I could not really respond at the planning committee on the historical legacy or manner of sale to a large extent.

However we cannot ignore that 4,700 people signed the petition.

We had one resident from Alder Fold who actively gathered some for us. However we absolutely respect residents’ concerns and whatever future the Formby Hall has as a leisure venue.

We will be in contact with the management to make sure that they are aware of the concerns so that they are kept to an absolute minimum and residents can enjoy living in the area.

Atherton Residents Association