Calls grow for extra Westhoughton car parking

The Liberal Democrat team at the former Mill Street car park

Calls are growing for extra car parking to cope with Westhoughton’s burgeoning town centre. 

The town centre continues to grow in popularity, particularly with new bars and restaurants. This week saw the opening of the new It Sear grill restaurant. 

Now Liberal Democrat councillor Deirdre McGeown, who represents Westhoughton North and Hunger Hill ward on Bolton Council, has asked the council to restore the former Mill Street car park into a free public car park. 

The land is privately owned and is sitting empty but was previously used by Bolton Council as a car park. More recently it was used as a compound for the works to replace the footpaths on Market Street. 

Councillor McGeown said: “I am hoping that the council’s executive will agree with me in congratulating the entrepreneurial spirit of business owners in Westhoughton which have turned it into a thriving town centre with a variety of retail and hospitality venues. However, the downside to this success is the insufficient level of car parking within Westhoughton town centre.”

The land was earmarked as a potential site for housing development by the former Conservative administration of Bolton Council. 

Cllr McGeown is calling on the new leadership of Bolton Council to review this status and redesignate it for car parking. 

She said: “We urgently need to investigate the possibility of returning this site to car parking to support the success and hard work of Westhoughton town centre businesses.”

Westhoughton town councillor Sarita Chohan, who runs Rishi’s cafe on Market Street with her husband Rish Chohan, agreed that more needs to be done. 

She said: “More and more people are coming to Westhoughton town centre. The town is growing in size and popularity, so extra spaces will make it easier for people to come and enjoy the shops and businesses we have to offer.

“The land on Mill Street is sitting empty and is overgrown so we might as well be putting it to go use.”