Councillors' Update: September 2026
Andy Burnham at Conference
Tom attended Labour Party Conference and attended a number of events relevant to policy and support for constituents. He managed to watch Andy Burnham's Leader's speech in full, which didn't just diagnose what has gone wrong in this country but set out a bold, serious plan to fix it.
Burnham spoke with conviction about housing, care, transport, electoral reform, Brexit and the crisis of young people not in education, employment or training. His argument - that for fifty years we have been giving away power to vested interests, stripping out public ownership and our ability to shape our own lives, and that this has made things genuinely harder for ordinary people - landed with real force. He set out a pathway to begin reversing that decline, not tinkering at the edges but changing direction.
The wider conference programme reinforced the message. Paul Waugh's work on early education and early intervention was a reminder of what Labour has already delivered - the removal of the two child cap, thirty hours a week of free childcare, breakfast clubs, and nearly £10 billion invested in early years. These things were hard won political choices, and they shouldn't be taken for granted.
The Lake Garage - The Saga Continues
We wish we were bringing you better news on this one. Following sustained pressure from Tom and Richard, and working alongside Paul Waugh MP, the owners of the garage site finally met with the Council in person to discuss the way forward. They initially suggested demolishing the old building - which felt like progress - but have since indicated they intend instead to tidy the site up ahead of yet another planning application for a Spar store.
The message does not seem to be getting through. This is not an appropriate location for that development. The site was bought without the relevant planning permissions in place, and the owners continue to hold our village to ransom as a consequence of that poor decision. We will not be letting up.
Protecting Our Pubs
This month Tom and Richard are presenting a motion to Full Council on protecting pubs - something we feel strongly about and have been campaigning on for some time.
The motion focuses on restrictive covenants - a legal mechanism that allows pub-owning companies, when they sell a former pub building, to impose a condition preventing it from ever being used as a pub again. Because these covenants run with the land, they bind every future owner permanently. Even where a community is willing and able to buy and reopen their local, the covenant can make it impossible. The Government consulted on closing this loophole back in 2011 but never acted.
The motion calls on the Council Leader to write to the Secretary of State calling for measures to render such covenants unenforceable, supports the representations being made by Paul Waugh MP, and asks the Communities, Regeneration and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee (chaired by Tom) to review whether local planning policy does enough to protect pubs as community assets and support community ownership.
The Wheatsheaf in Littleborough - a pub of real local heritage, occupying the Grade II listed Roundhouse on a site that has been home to a pub since the eighteenth century - has recently closed, and there is strong local interest in seeing it preserved and potentially brought back into community ownership. The fate of the old Royal Oak is a cautionary tale we would rather not see repeated. That building was lost as a pub and eventually became a shop selling vapes, DIY equipment and sweets - which was itself closed down by Trading Standards before reopening in a similar guise. That is not the future we want for the Wheatsheaf or any other pub in our area.
Firgrove Playing Fields
Tom has been working with local sports clubs and is pleased to have secured funding to replace all the goalposts at Firgrove Playing Fields. Many Littleborough football teams play there regularly and the old equipment had become a real problem. This will make a genuine difference to local sport provision.
United Reformed Church
Consultation has started on the plans to convert the United Reformed Church into an Arts Centre for Littleborough. Initial groups consulted include the church elders, Coach House, Civic Trust and others. Next they will be speaking with arts and voluntary organisations before opening up to a wider public consultation. Early feedback from the team leading the consultation is very positive with some really helpful thoughts from the community.
Road Markings
Good news on the road markings front - the main roads across the ward have now had their lines refreshed. The one remaining delay is a short section of the A58 through the centre of the village, where the conservation area designation requires a different type of paint. Quite why that should cause such a significant delay is a very good question, and one we continue to press.
Out and About
Richard and Tom continue to knock on doors week in, week out across the ward, speaking with residents and picking up casework. We also attend a range of local meetings including Friends of Hare Hill Park, LEAF, Littleborough Civic Trust and Moorend Trust, and we volunteer at local events - brass bands in the park, festivals and community activities throughout the year.
The casework is constant: grass cutting, hedges trimmed back, fly tipping removed, bins emptied and much more. If you have something you want to raise, please get in touch, come to one of our surgeries, or just stop us when you see us out and about.
Our surgeries continue on the first Saturday of the month at the United Reformed Church and the third Saturday at Smithy Bridge Library. No appointment needed - just come and find us.
