Shoppers have now got 'somewhere to go' in Leigh town centre

If you're caught short on a shopping trip to the Wigan outpost of Leigh, rest easy. There's now somwhere to go.

That's after town hall bosses handed over £52,000 for the new toilets at Leigh bus station, where ‘a key gap in provision’ was identified. Some £40,000 was given to Wigan council by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) for the delivery of the new facilities.

However, officials were unable to find a suitable location on council-owned land and handed the grant over to Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) which oversaw the new toilets project. Wigan added a further £12,000 from its coffers to cover the rising cost of having the work done.

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A report on the decision by Wigan director of place Aidan Thatcher said a total of six sites had been forward for funding in the Wigan application to the DLUHC. “Leigh town centre was identified early on as a key gap in provision, and Leigh bus station as the preferred location to address that gap,” it says.

“TfGM were willing to partner with Wigan council so that they would use the grant to build the facility and manage it thereafter. Alternative Leigh town centre locations on council land were considered but were rejected because Leigh bus station is a high footfall central location with supervision on-site seven days a week, during long opening hours, thus maximising availability.”

The facilities were opened in September.