In the end I received 29 responses to the survey. I delivered around 600 letters, so that represents approx 0.5% response. Of course, more would have been better, but I’ll send a note to the committee with details of these responses.

13 were returned by post, and 14 were returned by email or through the webpage and I received two phone calls.

The breakdown is:

• Merge into Wigan : 10
• Single Unitary Lancashire : 2
• Central Lancashire : 4
• Unitary West Lancs : 12
• Other : 1

The “Other” option was a request for “no change”.

There was a mention in the Advertiser that I had received more Wigan submissions than the other options, which was true at the time. Following that article I received another five or six forms which were mostly for the unitary West Lancs option.

It’s difficult to draw too much of a conclusion from these numbers. However, it’s clear that the vast majority did not return the survey, and perhaps that means we should be focussing on the real issues affecting people in Up Holland. Out of those who did return the survey, I take it that there is basically an equal feeling towards Wigan as towards West Lancs.

In defense of the small number of returns, I must note that the vital villages meetings, which were intended to push forward community issues, had about the same percentage interest from the community, possibly even less.