WITH the Bolton Council elections taking place on May 5, political reporter Liam Thorp is taking a closer look at some of the key battlegrounds and speaking to the candidates vying for your all-important votes.

THERE are few seats on Bolton Council that are more evenly contested these days than Westhoughton North and Chew Moor.

The ward is currently represented by two Conservative councillors and Labour’s Anne Graham, who is aiming to defend the seat she won in a by-election at the same time as last May’s General Election.

The mix of parties representing the area is nothing new, with Labour and the Tories trading seats over the past 10 years, following a period of domination by the Liberal Democrats.

The ward is something of a microcosm of the Bolton West Parliamentary seat, which has also been a tightly fought battle between red and blue in recent times.

When it comes to key issues for residents in the area — traffic, the state of the roads and the apparent over-development of the area seem to sit high on most lists.

Cllr Graham replaced her Labour colleague Sean Harkin in the seat after he quit the authority last year and said her short term has been a learning curve that she has thoroughly enjoyed.

She said: “I've had this job since May, 2015 and finding out how the council operates has been my 'Big Task' in that time. Getting to grips with residents' concerns, and passing those on to council staff to resolve swiftly has been a buzz.

“The residents have been warm and welcoming too, even when it has not been possible to solve the whole problem immediately they are grateful for my intervention and support.”

Urging voters to keep her in the role, she added: “I am keen to be re-elected to continue supporting residents. I know I can learn more and do even better over the next four years, to make Westhoughton an even better place to live in and enjoy life to the full.”

If history is to believed, Tory candidate Christine Wilde will push Cllr Graham all the way on May 5.

She is no stranger to representing the people of Westhoughton North and Chew Moor, having done so between 2008 and 2012.

A retired school inspector, she said: “The seat traditionally swings a lot, so I’m sure it will be close again.

“I was a councillor for the ward between 2008 and 2012 and I think I have a track record of working hard in the area.

“I think I did quite a lot for the residents and would want to do the same again, I know the area very well.

She added: “I think over-development of Westhoughton is a really big issue for people around here as well as the state of the roads — so those are the issues I will focus on.”

Another candidate who is seeking a return to the council seat is Liberal Democrat Derek Gradwell, who represented the ward between 2004 and 2008 and previously held the former seat of Hulton Park.

The 45-year-old solicitor said: “One of my my major concerns in respect of the ward is the threat of ongoing developments, particularly in view of the proposals for 300 homes in Park Road, without the facilities and infrastructure necessary.

“Prior to my election in 1999 I campaigned to ensure that areas of land surrounding Westhoughton were given protection and it resulted in certain areas becoming protected open space.

“My concern now is that Bolton Council’s stance in relation to a recent application in Blackrod could open us up to being picked off by developers, who are not forced to provide adequate services.”

UKIP candidate George Bown said he believes his party’s overall stance on issues in Bolton as a whole are most important.

The 68-year-old said: “The issues that I am looking at are not necessarily just Westhoughton issues but issues for the whole borough.

“It is a little bit clichéd to hear candidates say they are going to fix the roads, so I’m not going to do that.

“I think it is more important to get the message across that people should be voting for a change of governance at Bolton Council and that is what I am standing for.”

For the Greens, candidate Heather Rylance said: “The Green Party represents a real alternative to the tired politics of the main establishment parties and as a Green Party candidate I would campaign for a ban on Fracking in Bolton, improvements to public transport and reliable and practical disposal of refuse and recycling facilities.

“I would be interested in improving public transport links in the area and am particularly concerned about the threat Fracking represents to this area.”