Dear John, The Older Persons Fair I held at Brookfield Hall in Westhoughton was an amazing success though it is always rather difficult for me to judge. The stall holders arrived early and set themselves up so I took the opportunity to chat about everything from local business, the work of the Bolton Job Centre and Age UK. When the doors opened to the public, I had a great many constituents forming a queue to chat about everything going on locally and nationally. Time flew and before I knew it, and after nearly four hundred residents from right across the constituency had turned up, the event was over. I had much food for thought and great feedback from all who attended. IX Wireless is never far from the thoughts of at least some constituents at any given time. I held a meeting at the proposed site of one of the monopoles, in Westhoughton to hear the concerns of local residents. I was left in no doubt of the universal opposition to the proposals especially with regard to ‘permitted development’. I took it up with the leader of Bolton Council, who was able to update me on the progress he was making on challenging their approach to ‘permitted development’. He has been able to use his powers to make them think again and withdraw their existing proposal for unsightly infrastructure which has now created a more positive working relationship between the Council and the business. It's a great example where the local councillors, council leader and MP of all three main political parties can make a difference by working together. Having had so much rain recently, I’m looking forward to the new flood prevention scheme that the Government has awarded £25m to have built on the Smithills Estate. The proposed “leaky dam” is a new approach which seems to be inspired by beavers. I’ll update you when I have more details of the work and I just hope that the dam isn’t too leaky. The Budget was the big political event in Westminster and it built upon the Autumn Statement’s announcement that the triple lock had been retained for pensioners with another National Insurance cut for workers. Yours sincerely, | 
