'A true green spaces champion' - Oldham Lib-Dem leader pays tribute to late Waterhead councillor Chris Dugdale

Former Waterhead councillor Chris Dugdale

Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has paid tribute to former Waterhead councillor Chris Dugdale, who sadly died on Friday, July 25. 

Councillor Sykes said: “Chris Dugdale, who was a councillor for the Waterhead Ward of Oldham Council from 1994 to 2004 died following a long illness. 

"She was 66 years old.

“Chris, a native of Workington, moved to Oldham when she was eight with her father's job and became active in the local church. 

"She met Mike her husband at St Anne's amateur dramatics in Royton.”

Chris was brought into politics by the proposal to ‘tip in’ the Beal Valley to form a golf course. 

She was also involved in the opposition to the development of Clayton playing fields on the Royton/Chadderton border and said that it gave her great pleasure to grant Town Green status for the fields sometime later.

Added Councillor Sykes: “She was a great local campaigner for Waterhead Ward and a true green spaces champion with a long record of service on the council’s Environmental Services Committee looking after those special places in our Borough.

“After Chris retired from the Council she moved with her husband to Northeast Wales where Chris became a Librarian and was appointed a magistrate, she also started to learn Welsh. 

"In later years Chris moved to Colwyn Bay where she spent her final years under the care of her family and a local nursing home.”

Chris is survived by her husband Mike and her sister Ann.

The funeral will be held on August 14 at 2.30pm at Rhos on Sea URC, Colwyn Avenue, Rhos on Sea, LL28 4RA.

No flowers please, but in memory of Chris please make donations to Cancer Research UK via the link here

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