Councillor Alistair Bradley has been Leader of Chorley Council since May 2012. He was first elected to the Council as Ward Councillor for Chorley South East five years ago and has been Leader of the Labour Group for the last two years.

Alistair grew up in Eccleston and attended Bishop Rawstorne High School. He is a quantity surveyor by training, and works as a director of a civil engineering firm in Preston. He now lives in Chorley with his wife Vanessa and two children.

As well as Leader of the Council, Councillor Bradley is also Executive Member for Economic Development and Governance. Some of his key aims as Leader are to increase economic regeneration in the borough in order to increase overall employment, and in particular to get young people into work. He wants to help create a vibrant and growing town centre and Borough where people want to invest.

Alistair wants to work closely with parish and town councils in order to help deliver a first class service to all residents, and to further improve engagement with residents and organisations throughout the borough.

Contact Councillor Bradley by email at alistair.bradley@chorley.gov.uk

Chorley Council has launched a new initiative, running initially until the 22 September, providing free travel and free activities for young people aged 12-16 each Saturday.

To help encourage more youngsters to get active, free transport will be put on to and from leisure centres where they can take part in free sports such as football, handball, dance and inline skating.

The service will run every Saturday for people aged 12-16-years-old serving all parts of the borough from Adlington and Coppull to Mawdesley and Brinscall.

Alternatively, young people who live close to each venue can make their own way straight there and enjoy the activities on offer
• Bishop Rawstorne High School: 5.00 – 7.00pm
• Clayton Green Sports Centre: 4.00 – 6.00pm
• All Seasons Leisure Centre: 7.00 – 9.00pm

Visitors to Chorley town centre will be able to benefit from free parking every Saturday afternoon and a reduction in parking fees in plans unveiled by Chorley Council to boost the local economy.

The new measures, which are expected to come into force at the end of October, are part of the authority’s new commitment to boost the local economy and help revitalise the town centre.

It’s the first time free parking has been offered in the town centre on a Saturday afternoon and the trial will run until February to see what impact it has.

The new charges will see a complete shake-up of tariffs on both the long and short stay car parks. It will also see a reduction in price in the one-hour parking option and the limit of three hours parking on short stay car parks increased to four hours in response to people saying they wanted to stay for longer in the town.

The headline changes to the parking structure are:
• Free parking after 1pm on Saturdays
• Parking for one hour on short stay car parks will be 20p cheaper (29 per cent reduction)
• The three hour maximum stay on all short stay car parks will be extended to four hours
• The charging periods for the day will reduce so they end at 5pm rather than 6pm
• Parking will remain free on all car parks on Sundays and Bank Holiday

The parking tariff trial, which is one of a number of short-term measures to boost Chorley town centre, will start in October with the changes clearly advertised within the car parks.

People in Chorley will be able to get a helping hand with their finances with a new credit union setting up base in the town centre on 5 September.
Unify Credit Union, Wigan’s largest financial co-operative, has announced that it will be opening a branch in Chorley Council’s Union Street offices following a surge in demand for their services.

In a move supported by the council, to help those who are struggling during the economic downturn, it will mean people can save more easily and offer a safe place to get low cost loans.

For more information contact Unify on 01942 701706, email info@unifycu.org or visit the website www.unifycu.org.

If you need to get in touch with the Council outside normal working hours the Council's emergency out of hours contact number is 01257 515142.

If you wish to visit the Council's Contact Centre the opening hours are between 8.45am-5pm or alternatively telephone 01257 515151 between 8am-6pm or email contact@chorley.gov.uk.

The Lancashire Association and Lancashire County Council have been working together on a pilot project to establish a process for parish and town councils, parish meetings and community groups to deal with maintenance on public rights of way.

Click on the link below to find a summary of the current scheme, including a model devised in conjunction with the parishes who took part in the pilot.

Thank you to Euxton Parish Council who supplied this article. If you wish to submit an article for a future edition email intheboro@chorley.gov.uk.

Householders in Chorley are being warned to be aware of companies which offer to win them Council Tax refunds, but charge them an upfront fee to do so.

The warning has gone out from Chorley Council which has received a number of calls from residents who have been told they can appeal against their Council Tax banding and could get a refund.

In October 2011, the Government introduced new legislation in England and Wales which meant that the water companies took over responsibility for many sewer and drain pipes which were previously in private ownership.

The decision to do this was made to remove the burden from customers of complicated and costly repairs to these pipes when something went wrong. In the North West, United Utilities took ownership of more than 32,000km of extra wastewater pipes.

Work has started on a new allotment site as Chorley Council looks to get more people growing their own fruit and vegetables.

Twenty new plots are being created at the new site off Manor Road in Clayton-le-Woods to meet the popular demand for allotments.

In addition there will be one extra plot on the site, which will be let to Lancashire Wildlife Trust to use as part of their community food growing project where groups of local people work together to grown their own fruit and vegetables.

There have been two successful prosecutions for littering, to find out more click on the links below.

Lancashire County Council has given notice of a number of Road Traffic Regulation Orders for August 2012.

Don't miss Gabbotts Farm Sausage and Black Pudding Festival on Chorley Market which takes place on Friday and Saturday, 28 and 29 September 2012 starting at 9am.

There will be cookery demonstrations recipe ideas and taster sessions.

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Finally, keep up to date with what is happening in Chorley through the Council's website.