The results of Borough elections held on Thursday, 5 May are:

Adlington and Anderton - Peter Wilson
Brindle and Hoghton - Sheila Long
Chorley East - Zara Khan
Chorley North East - Adrian Lowe
Chorley North West - Joyce Snape
Chorley South East - Alistair Bradley
Chorley South West - Anthony Gee
Clayton Le Woods and Whittle Le Woods - John Walker
Clayton Le Woods North - Jean Cronshaw
Coppull - Jane Fitzsimons
Eccleston and Mawdesley - Henry Caunce
Euxton North - Danny Gee
Heath Charnock and Rivington - Kim Snape
Lostock - John Dalton
Wheelton and Withnell - Chris France

Clive Grunshaw was re-elected as the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire.

As you may know the council has undergone a transformation of its structure as we prepare ourselves for the future challenges facing local government.

It is a significant change for how the council will operate but is essential for us to provide the services that residents will need, while making ourselves sustainable for the future.

The organisation is now structured around four main areas:
• Business development and growth – there is a drive to create more jobs for residents and at the same time the Government will be giving us more of the business rates raised in the borough by 2020
• Early intervention – if we can intervene in someone’s life earlier when they may need the support that we and our partners provide it is better for the individual and will save the taxpayer money
• Customer and digital – ensuring residents understand the services we provide and when people contact us they are dealt with in the most helpful and efficient way possible
• Policy and governance – this area will cover many of the support teams that enable the council to be run effectively and how we move forwards to be a part of a Combined Authority for Lancashire

There are changes to the roles of a number of members of staff so we’d encourage you to report any service requests you have through the MyAccount system at chorley.gov.uk or via the contact centre on 01257 515151.

On Tuesday 10 May there will be a Network Rail drop in session taking part in the Town Hall between 4pm to 7pm regarding the electrification of the Chorley line.

This is open for the public to attend. Public can access the session in Committee Room 1 via the back entrance of the Town Hall.

Discussions continue to take place to ensure the safe and timely reinstatement of the emergency department. The System Resilience Group (SRG) met again this week to agree the staffing position that needs to be achieved to deliver a safe and sustainable service and enable the reinstatement of the department at Chorley Hospital.

14 middle grade doctors are needed to safely staff the emergency department. It has been agreed that the department can be reinstated once Lancashire Teaching Hospitals has a workforce that consists of at least 10 permanent staff, with the gaps covered by locums who have successfully completed a trial period. These requirements will ensure a safe and sustainable service can be delivered, and there is enough capacity to respond to changes in the workforce.

Professor Pugh added: “When these staffing levels have been reached, there will need to be a short period of testing the stability of that workforce. Once we are confident the level can be sustained, we will be able to plan for the reinstatement of the emergency department at Chorley Hospital.”

Amateur Section Open For Entries

Gardening enthusiasts will be able to submit their entries for Chorley Flower Show as the amateur section opened for applications on Monday 25 April.

After the phenomenal success of the first ever show Chorley Council is urging gardeners and floral artists of all ages to take the opportunity of entering this year’s event.

There are new categories this year with everything from roses to begonias and for the first time there will be fruit and vegetable classes.

The Council has published Equality Objectives for 2016-2020 and they are now available to view on the Chorley Council website.

Under the Equality Act 2010, the Council is required to publish a list of equality objectives to help us to achieve our duties under the Act and provide us with clear aims for improvement. Working towards achieving them will ensure that the Council is providing support and consideration in its service delivery and policy development to all members of our community.

The objectives have been developed by reviewing information about our customers and communities using recent data and through consultation with managers, local partners, residents and the Equality Forum.

Families, couples and friends who are looking for inspiration for a great day out are being encouraged to check out Chorley and its many attractions and events with the launch of a new visitor website, checkoutchorley.com

The new visitor website has been launched by Chorley Council in a bid to showcase the area and what it has to offer to people of all ages.

It will act as an online tourist information centre for Chorley and promises to deliver informative content, convenience and inspiration to connect local people and visitors to everything Chorley has to offer for a great day out.

Attractions such as Astley Hall, Coach House and Park, Rivington Pike, Hoghton Tower, Chorley town centre, Fredericks Ice Cream Parlour, Chorley Markets, Chorley Little Theatre, Botany Bay, Go Ape and Yarrow Valley Country Park all feature on the site.

In support of Central Lancashire Community Restart Mental Health Awareness Week commencing on 16 May there will be a Community Wellbeing Walk for Stamp out Stigma taking place at Astley Park and Coach House on Sunday, 22 May between 1pm until 4pm.

It is scheduled to be an informative afternoon of Wellbeing activities for all the family including a guided mindful health walk, a fitness bootcamp taster session, interactive live music entertainment and refreshments.

Local organisations such as Chorley women's centre, Lancashire Mind, Discover, Age UK, children's centre, Brothers of Charity and The Harmony Hub will all be present providing support and information.

The Bags of Help programme, which is funded by Tesco customers from the proceeds of the 5p charge for plastic carrier bags, offers grants up to £12,000 for capital improvements to local community greenspaces.

Examples of projects that would typically receive funding include: parks and urban green spaces, green corridors (rivers, canals, cycle ways), open access sports facilities and informal outdoor recreation facilities, nature reserves, churchyards, allotments and school grounds.

Parish/Town councils are amongst the organisations eligible for this funding to provide community benefit.

Chorley Council is undertaking a survey about what people think about Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicles in the borough (these vehicles are commonly referred to as Taxis).

This survey covers the whole of the Chorley Area from Hoghton, Clayton, Adlington and over to Mawdesley, not just Chorley town centre.

Chorley Council is responsible for the licensing of Hackney Carriage and Private Hire vehicles across the borough. Chorley Council currently limits licences for Hackney Carriage Vehicles to 36 and therefore is required to carry out a survey every 3 years to determine if the current limits are still applicable.

The survey will be open until the 17th June 2016.

Chorley Councillors recently received a presentation from Chorley Heritage Centre Support Group. The attached presentation and notes explain what the Group are trying to achieve and how the Council could support them.

You will have recently received a new invitation for the Executive Cabinet meeting in June. This meeting has been moved to Thursday 30 June as it previously fell on the day of the forthcoming EU Referendum.

Members of the Chorley Town East - Neighbourhood Area Meeting will also note that this change impacts on their neighbourhood meeting scheduled to take place on 30 June 2016. This meeting will now take place the evening before on Wednesday 29 June 2016 at 6.00pm.

Cancellation requests and new invites have been sent out to update your diaries accordingly.