Bolton Squeezed As Shadow Minister Highlights Funding Crisis

Ed Vaizey MP the Shadow Minister for Arts today visited the Bolton Museum and the Central Library to highlight the potential funding shortage for Bolton.
 
Mr Vaizey met with Council representatives along with Conservative Shadow Executive Members Cllr David Greenhalgh and Cllr Hilary Fairclough and Bolton North East Candidate Deborah Dunleavy.
 
They were shown the new developments within the museum and library, the Children's Programme and the Family History section.  As well as the expansion and development of office space into public space.
 
But Mr Vaizey's main purpose for the visit was to highlight that the National Lottery funding availible to Bolton had been slashed from £17m to a mere £900,000 by the Labour Government in order to subsidise the London 2012 Olympics.
 
Commenting Deborah Dunleavy, prospective MP for Bolton North East, said "This will have a devastating effect on the proposed regeneration of our town centre and the development of the Cultural Quarter.  This money had clearly been earmarked for Bolton and the Council were confident that their bid would be accepted and approved, only to have Gordon Brown snatch the carpet from underneath them and reduce the funding availible to a mere fraction of what it was. The opportunity to get this money again won't come round until 2013.  Can Bolton afford to wait that long?"