Government Minister visits Ashton

Pictured above at the Heritage Garden - John Healey with Ken Barston, Secretary of the Stubshaw Cross Residents Association with residents






Pictured above - John Healey with representatives of Wigan Council and United Utilities and Ann Rampling from the Town Green Residents Association






Pictured above John Healey and myself by the plaque commemorating William Kineally VC.

By coincidence John Healey, Minister for Local Government, who I mentioned in the previous blog entry visited Ashton last week as a part of a tour of the North West. Before going on to Wigan Town Hall he came to view two very successful local projects, the Town Green garden and the newly opened Stubshaw Cross Heritage Garden.

He showed a keen interest in the two projects and was especially taken by the plaque for William Kineally VC - I was told later that he is very interested in military history.

At the Town Green site the Minister met representatives from the residents group,Wigan Council and United Utilities who briefed him on the work that was undertaken to prevent flooding in Ashton.

Ken Barston and a group of residents met him at the Heritage Garden and gave him an account of how the Garden came about.

Everybody who met him found him very likeable and residents told me that they were impressed by the genuine interest in their project. He in turn was very impressed by the projects he had seen and praised the hard work that had obviously gone onto them.