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OUT-PATIENT UNIT AT GRAMMAR SCHOOL
The former Wigan Grammar School is to be the site for Wigan Infirmary's new out-patients department.
Bosses from Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust have signed documents to secure an option to purchase the Parson's Walk buildings and site, which was bought by Dave Whelan's Whelco Holdings for approximately £500,000 from Wigan and Leigh College last year.
The Trust aims to obtain final approval from the NHS Executive in spring 2000, start work on site in summer 2000 and have the new outpatient centre up and running in the summer of 2001. The idea behind the scheme was that with the gradual closure of Billinge Hospital, more space was needed at Wigan Infirmary and as this is not available, moving the out- patients department means that 80,000 less people each year will visit the hospital site on Wigan Lane.
In a document to the Wigan and Bolton Health Authority the main reasons for the change include the need to significantly improve the quality of out-patient accommodation; clearing space at Wigan Infirmary for the development of a new two-block building; a reduction in the demand for car parking at the Infirmary and the potential to expand as this is currently impossible on the Wigan Lane site.
A spokesperson for the Trust said, "The development of an out-patient centre off the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary site is an essential step in the Trust's long term plans for centralising all acute services at the Infirmary. Th Grammar school site is conveniently located close to the town centre and is within easy reach of the bus and rail stations.
"The Trust's plans for converting and expanding the existing buildings will provide a modern, integrated out-patient to replace the scattered clinics at the Royal Albert site, many of which are in unsatisfactory accommmodation."
The Trust's chief executive, Sheena Cumiskey, said,"I am delighted that our positive discussions with the present owner, Mr David Whelan, have proved fruitful and that we are able to make this significant step forward today. A new out-patient centre will bring much needed improvements in accommodation and this is an excellent location."
FORMER ATHLETICS COACH CHARGED WITH RAPE
A former Wigan athletics coach charged with six counts of rape, has had his case listed for trial in the New Year.
George Kirk, 75, of Roundmoor Road, Standish, is alleged to have carried out a series of sex attacks between 1975 and 1986. At the time he was the coach of the all-girl
running team the Eagles.
Since the case's last hearing in September two more alleged victims have come forward, leading to five new charges of indecent assault against
him, Bolton Crown Court heard this week.
He is already charged with six rapes and two indecent assaults on two 13-year old girls between 1980 and 1981. He denies all
these charges.
Kirk was due to appear at Bolton last Friday, but the case was dealt with in his absence after his barrister and the prosecution agreed that he was too
ill to attend. Because of his ill health, both sides will present psychiatric reports to the case judge before proceeding to a trial in the New Year.
The case has been
listed for a 12 day trial starting on March 27th.
"GIANT" OF MINING INDUSTRY DIES
One of the Lancashire coalfield's most colourful characters has died.
"Little" Jimmy Dowd ,80, just 4 feet 11 inches in his stocking feet, was tiny in stature but a giant of a man in the NUM during his working life and then at the heart of his beloved Wigan community after his retirement.
Father of 11 Jimmy, a proud Communist whose party card as a young man surely prevented him from a glittering career in politics with Labour in later years, died of a heart attack at his home in Gerard Street, Ashton.
He also leaves 23 grandchildren and nine great grandchildren. He lost his second wife Rene four years ago. His first wife and mother to his children died young.
Son of a mining family, Jimmy Dowd still holds the record for being the longest serving branch secretary in the mining union's Lancashire history, with more than 30 years service.
After manual work in the mills, he entered mining at Wigan Junction Colliery in 1951, before moving to Bickershaw four years later and then transferring to Bold in 1963 to work on the Wigan Four Feet seam.
Although a tireless worker for the cause of miners through the NUM, he was an independent thinker all his working life and would upset the union's heirarchy on retirement by founding the Haydock, Ashton and District Retired Miners and Widows Association.
The union argued that they were the right body to represent the needs of retired pitmen and threatened Jimmy with legal action if he didn't fold the organisation. Typically, he refused to back down and the organisation continues, in a less active form, to this day.
After retiring with a heart problem, he became secretary of Wigan Trades Council for many years.
HUNT FOR "SPOTTY PERVERT"
A pervert is on the run today after sexually assaulting a Wigan schoolgirl.
The terrified 15 year-old was attacked by the spotty teenager
as she walked by Mesnes Park's rose garden. He grabbed her from behind, forced her on to a park bench and indecently assaulted her. Struggling furiously, the girl broke free of his grasp and fled,
reporting the attack to the police as soon as she got home.
Detectives have conducted a videotaped interview with the youngster and are now appealing for public help in tracking down her young
assailant of whom they have a detailed and distinctive description.
He was white, 5ft 9ins tall, in his late teens, wearing a blue bubble jacket and jeans. He had blond hair, parted in the
middle and shaved at the back, a spotty complexion and facial piercing to his right eyebrow, nose and tongue.
The attack happened on Tuesday 9th November at 4.45pm. Police say the delay in
informing the public was prompted by following up certain lines of enquiry and the need to video interview the victim first.
Det Insp Mick Darwin of Wigan CID said, "The description of the
offender is an excellent one and we would hope someone will be able to identify him from that. we would also like to speak to anyone who was in the Mesnes Park area on that day and perhaps saw
the young man acting suspiciously. It's not clear where he came from, having attacked the girl from behind, and we do not know where he went after she had made good her escape. This must have
been a very frightening ordeal for the victim and this man needs to be caught."
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