PLANS to create a parish or town council in Atherton have been rejected.

Wigan Council rejected the proposal after residents indicated they do not want a new parish or town council for Atherton.

Cllr Terry Halliwell, cabinet member for customer transformation, said: “Less than 0.6 per cent of electorate responded to the consultation and out of 246,440 borough residents, just 1,082 responded in favour of a parish or town council in Atherton in addition to the borough council.

“In Atherton, 655 responses were received, out of 6,579 households. Only 8.79 per cent of the households in Atherton responded to say they were unhappy with the current governance arrangements.

“Would it be fair then, to impose this bill along with another layer of local government to those 92.1 per cent of people in Atherton who didn’t ask for it?

“As councillors it is our job to look after the needs of our constituents and to make fair decisions and that is exactly what we have done here.”

Cllr Susan Loudon explained why she voted against taking further action.

She said: “I believe we cannot force everyone in Atherton to pay extra taxes on the whim of a handful of people.

“A new town council will not bring back the old Atherton Council and anyone who voted for that has been strongly misled.

“That is why I am against a town council — not because I do not admire what Atherton Urban District did but because we can never return to that.”

A campaign had been launched calling for a parish council for Atherton.