This is the first in a series of ‘The View from Snowden’, as Caroline Snowden sets out the views and issues she wants to represent residents on at Chorley Town Hall, as Wheelton and Withnell's candidate for the 2018 local town council elections.
“Recently Andrew attended a meeting with residents about School places and the particular challenge for villagers. From being active out and about in the villages I have had a number of conversations with people concerned about the cost of getting children to Chorley Schools and there actually being places in the first place. I was really pleased when he came home all fired-up to do something about it. We had helped with a petition about Chorley School places back in 2015 and it felt good to be back on the case. We hope to be able to form a strong team to make a stand – with Andrew at County Hall and me at Chorley Town Hall.
There are two issues that need looking at – one is the process by which the nearest School is allocated to determine free bus passes for our rural areas that border multiple towns (we are already on with getting meetings in about this) as it takes no cultural or community links into account.
The second issue is the increasing pressure rural areas face in getting places in Chorley Schools without having to challenge. Given the increasing development in Chorley this situation is only going to get more difficult. This needs to be addressed seriously, maybe some of the money being sunk into town centre developments that don’t stack up and tearing up car parks, could be diverted into helping provide more School places.
I will keep you updated on our progress with highlighting this important issue, it is something I hope to be a strong voice on at Chorley Borough Council if elected next year.”
