Fears that a popular community hub could be set to be demolished have been called “not remotely true”, by town hall leaders.
This comes after claims were made in Liberal Democrat election leaflets ahead of next week’s byelections in Westhoughton that facilites are under threat at The Hub at Westhoughton building
But the Central Drive centre's manager and the council leadership say there is no prospect of facilities moving out of the building.
Conservative council leader Cllr Martyn Cox said: “What the Lib Dems are saying is not remotely true, it’s a regular feature of their campaigns to put out things that aren’t true.”
The leaflets claim that there are “fears that the hub could be demolished” and that they “believe that Bolton Council wants to clear the central drive to make way for more housing.”
One of the leaflets distributed around Westhoughton
But hub manager Anna-Marie Watters says such claims have caused distress and worry in the community.
She said: “There are no plans to demolish any building, we hold the lease on the building and there have been no conversations on the hub closing and us moving out.
“On Thursday had one of our customers thinking they need to move all their equipment out."
She added: “We have a small number of staff and volunteers who were left wondering what will happen to them, myself and Jayne Oakley, the centre manager, have had reassure staff that this is not the case, and they would hear from us first and not a leaflet doing the rounds spreading untruths.”
The Hub at Westhoughton on Central Drive
But the Liberal Democrat’s Cllr David Wilkinson says council emails show that unless £200,000 worth of repairs can be found for the stand along block on the site then it will be demolished and that the authority would then consider the rest of the site for development.
He said: “As far as I’m concerned, I wanted a straight answer.
“I do support the building and I support the activity that activity that goes on in the building.
“She may not like our approach but what we are trying to do is protect the hub building.”
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