Town shows pride in year of celebrations
8:02am Friday 28th December 2012 in News
THE arrival of the Olympic Torch in Bolton, the success of the GB athletes and the Diamond Jubilee were among this year’s highlights for Bolton’s political leaders.
Bolton Council leader Cllr Cliff Morris said: “When I look back at 2012 it will be with mixed emotions.
“In many ways, it has been a very memorable year for Bolton — a year in which national and international events continued to have major impacts, both good and bad.
“The worldwide anticipation of the Olympics and Paralympics was made even more real for us thanks to the Olympic Torch relay visiting the town and the evening celebration in Queens Park.
“Once the events started, there was a real sense of pride thanks to our fantastic medal winners, Jason Kenny and Ola Abidogoun.
“I have no doubt that the profile and enthusiasm generated by the Olympics helped in making our Year of Sport the great success which it was — tens of thousands of people took part in events including the Skyride, IronKids and the international Ironman competition.
“While the year has been packed with sporting activities, we also had gentler events and reasons to celebrate, including the many different community celebrations of Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee, and our Food and Drink Festival.
“I was particularly pleased with the progress we have made in some important areas. Bolton saw its best GCSE results this year, as well as major gains in Key Stage 2 performance in our primary schools.
“The global economic turmoil continues to affect Bolton and there is no doubt that times are very tough on the High Street and in many of our local businesses.”
Conservative leader David Greenhalgh said: “The year 2012 has been a great year to be British.
“The eyes of the world were on our country, as we celebrated our Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and as we welcomed the rest of the world to our island for the Olympics.
“Here too in Bolton we embraced and celebrated these great moments in history. And without doubt, one of my highlights of the year was welcoming the Olympic Torch to Bolton, witnessing the thousands of people, young and old from different backgrounds and cultures, all turning out to be a part of this once in a lifetime experience.
“As politicians, we can learn much from this.
“Clearly there will always be political differences and we will have arguments and disagreements which will lead to lively debate on what is right. But we are at our strongest when we put those differences aside and fight together for what is best for Bolton and its residents.”
Liberal Democrat leader Roger Hayes said: “The Olympics were a major highlight, as were the test series victory in India, Bradley Wiggins’ victory in the Tour de France and England beating the All Blacks at Rugby.
“A major non-sporting highlight was the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, which reinforced how well Britain handles that sort of celebration.
“The year 2012 has been a hard year for everybody and Bolton has suffered more than many parts of the country.
“The year 2013 will be hard as well — there is no point fooling ourselves about that.
“For 2013, I would like to see more help to get those without a job back into work, more help for struggling small businesses, and Bolton Wanderers back in the Premiership.”
Tim Burr says...
10:32am Fri 28 Dec 12
This is true, but I don't think it's something we see a great deal of. The council is made up of ego's as were the communists. Our elected leaders should read Orwell and open every council meeting with a few words from one of his books to remind themselves, ideally beginning with Animal Farm: A Fairy Story.