WELL done to heritage campaigners who appear to have made some progress in their battle to halt a plan to cut into the historic façade of Bolton town hall.

The Bolton and District Civic Trust as well as Horwich Heritage and a host of other campaigners were quick to speak out against the plans for a restaurant and cafe either side of the town hall describing the idea as cultural vandalism.

Cllr John Walsh — himself a member of the planning committee — was also quick to speak out against the plans.

Indeed the idea of cutting into the front of the town hall even made it into the legendary satirical periodical Private Eye which lambasted the council for its plans.

I also wrote against the plans in this column while a two-page investigation by our political reporter Liam Thorp last month lifted the lid on the level of anger the scheme had caused in the town.

Now, in the face of public pressure, the council has delayed the planning application and says it is now working on at least two other alternatives.

Town hall chiefs have not yet scrapped the original plan, but this is surely the first step towards a u-turn.

We must now wait with baited breath for these alternatives to see what else is proposed.

We do not yet know if this idea of a cafe and restaurant will survive or if the council is dreaming up some other revenue-generating uses for the town hall.

The logic behind the original idea – to open up the town hall more to the public and make the building more sustainable – cannot be faulted.

It was just the execution of the plans which needed a little more thought.

This week the Taxpayers Alliance spoke out against councils owning assets such as restaurants, cafes, hotels, nightclubs and bingo halls.

Our own council featured in the list, owning 46 farms, nine shops, two hotels, three golf clubs and a theatre (the Octagon).

Let's not forget we also own a small stake in the Manchester Airports Group — which now owns Stansted as well as Manchester Airport.

These assets were defended by council leader Cliff Morris as they bring in much needed revenue for the council.

But the question being asked by the Taxpayers Alliance is should a council really be getting involved in such enterprises?

It is certainly a grey area. Local authorities are essentially running a business then investing the profits back into there own services.

I think there are a lot of grey areas — with potential for conflicts of interest — and perhaps the law needs to be clearer on where councils should and should not be investing public money.