A NEW “town council” has been suggested for Ramsbottom – 41 years after the area last looked after some of its own affairs.

Conservative borough councillors Ian Bevan and Rob Hodgkinson are behind the suggested authority, which could help to oversee the Civic Hall, cemetery and Nuttall Park.

But Labour has queried who will finance the town council and critics generally view such developments as a method of running local services on the cheap.

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The Tory pair say they have been prompted to launch their campaign after proposals to shut the town’s children’s centre and the cuts in the refuse collection service.

Cllr Hodkinson said the move would also help to balance the perspective that Ramsbottom is a “cash cow” for Bury borough, with council tax flowing to central funds “but little seen in return”.

He added: “Town councils are popular with people and can really make a difference.

“The proposals to remove red tape, simplify and streamline the current process is a common-sense move.”

Cllr Bevan added: “Ramsbottom is a town of its own, separate to Bury and there is currently an overwhelming demand for ‘devolution’ and localities having their own say.”

Not only would the town council cover the Ramsbottom ward, also including Shuttleworth and Holcombe, but Holcombe Brook, Summerseat, Greenmount and Hawkshaw from neighbouring North Manor. They are suggesting a reduction in councillors from three to two to help pay for the idea.

The councillors, who claim it would only add £15 to council tax bills are acting after the coalition government confirmed that it would be relaxing some of the rules set to determine whether new town or parish councils could be established.

Now the threshold at which residents can demand a review has been lowered from 10 per cent to 7.5 per cent of the population, and the amount of time the consultation would take has also been shortened.

Neighbourhood forums can also apparently trigger a town council debate.

Cllr Luise Fitzwalter, the Labour representative for Ramsbottom, said: “Having a Town Council in Rammy is very interesting. But it all depends on finance.

“All the things Councillors Bevan and Hodgkinson are complaining about stem from the £100,000 cuts their government has inflicted on Bury. It will be interesting to see how they try to run a town without any money.”

The time had come for the two Tories to lobby for a “fair deal” for the area, as councils were being “cut to the bone”.

The former Ramsbottom Urban District Council was lost as the result of local government reorganisation in 1974.