Anger over £5,000 cost of by-election

QUOTES for the cost of staging a parish by-election in Delph and Denshaw have been criticised by Councillor Alan Roughley.

He hit out at the estimated £4,500-£5,000 cost of staging an election to replace the late Ken Hulme.

Members could have simply co-opted a replacement councillor if there had been fewer that 10 requests by local residents for a by-election.

But with 36 requests received, an election had to be held to replace the former independent councillor and it will be staged on the same day as the local elections. Costs include the printing of the ballot cards and the manning of polling stations.

Councillor Roughley said: “The quotation is disgraceful and over the top. People will already be there to oversee the local elections. Extra time will need to be allowed for counting and verifying votes but this probably won’t be more than about £2,000 at the most.






A UNITED front was shown by parish councillors as they pledged to push for improvements to local rail links.



Councillor Royce Franklin, a member of the Greenfield Rail Action Group, called on the council to back the group’s stance in demanding better services to connect the village to popular destinations such as Manchester, Huddersfield and Leeds.

He presented a list of concerns that have already been submitted to Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) by the group, and asked for the council to write its own letter of support.

Points include earlier trains during weekends, half-hourly services throughout the week and improvements to station facilities such as full access for mobility-impaired travellers, ticket-vending machines and covered waiting areas.