1 week Ago
Long-running works on a major town hall repair project have been branded “worse than any farce” after taking around eight years. Money was first set aside to repair the historic Westhoughton Town Hall all the way back in 2017. Since then, questions have been repeatedly asked about delays and continued leaks, with further revelations about the state of the building coming at a meeting held back on March 6.
Cllr David Wilkinson, of Westhoughton South, said: “It was an even bigger surprise and even more scary when we found out that not only had we probably wasted £900,000 and we may need a new roof. “But when the scaffolding was up last time certain things had not been checked, i.e.
the condition of the clock tower.” Repairs at Westhoughton Town Hall have long been debated (Image: Paul Heyes) Cllr Wilkinson told a Bolton Council leaders meeting that guttering and other parts of the roof had not been checked. He also said that he and other Westhoughton councillors were still waiting for a written report they had been promised on the state of the building.
Liberal Democrat Cllr Wilkinson said: “I’m still waiting to get away from verbal to know what is wrong with the building.” He added: “To be quite honest its been far worse than any Brian Rix farce to say the least.” In response, council director of place, Jon Dyson, said that he was aware officers were “working in the background” to minimise further delays on repairing the historic town hall.
Assistant director of development and regeneration Paul Whittingham said that solutions had been found for arranging procurement and that the council had singed of funding for various works. He said that the authority could make savings to make sure that the initial costs were encompassed within a new budget . ALSO READ: Historic town hall still leaking despite nearly £1m worth of repairs ALSO READ: 'It seems we've wasted £900K' on leaking town hall roof repairs ALSO READ: Civic building 'sat there' amid £3.
5m town hall revamp Labour council leader Cllr Nick Peel asked that the Westhoughton members be given their written briefings within 48 hours of the most recent meeting. He reminded them the process had already gone through “three administrations.” Conservative opposition leader Cllr Martyn Cox reminded the attendees that with the money having been allocated back in 2017 they were approaching the process’s tenth anniversary.
He said: “If this carries on for three or four years there’s not a cat in hell’s chance that the resources allocated will cover the costs that you incur in bringing the building up to the standards that people will expect.”.
