Questions asked at Oldham Council meeting 11th July by Shaw Lib Dem Councillor Howard Sykes

Metrolink 3A

Would the Leader of the Council like to provide details to the public of this Borough on when the Metrolink 3A line to Shaw and Rochdale will be complete?

Could he outline what he and the Council are doing to get a firm date and will he try and ensure people get more than a couple of weeks’ notice.

Following the series of delays prior to the completion of the tram line to Mumps earlier this year, which was some 12 months behind schedule, could he also help scotch the rumours that further delays are in the pipeline and by doing so could he therefore confirm that the line to Shaw and Rochdale will be complete and opened on schedule?

If he cannot give us a firm date now can he suggest when he might be in a position to offer such a firm date?

Short answer was no he could not – I will continue to pursue this at every opportunity – Cllr Howard Sykes

Gulley cleaning

Could the Leader confirm that the level of programmed gulley cleaning has been significantly reduced in this Borough since his administration took over the Council in May 2011?

Could he also confirm the cleaning service is now almost exclusively a reactionary service and that funding allocated by the last Lib Dem administration for regular inspection, cleaning and prevention routines has been cut?

In the last few days the Borough has experienced considerable flooding problems throughout the Borough; evidence suggests that flooding events can only be exacerbated and, in some cases actually caused by cuts in the gulley maintenance regimes.

Would the Leader therefore agree that increasing severe weather events being experienced in this country, due to climate change, make it more essential than ever to ensure our gulley systems are cleaned regularly and are operating at peak capacity?

And will he re visit the current provision of gully empting as it is a false economy in the long term, is causes even more damage to the highway network and increases the potential for accidents.

Vague and evasive answer not worth printing – Cllr Howard Sykes

Dirty streets

Could the Leader of the Council confirm that his administration have overseen Oldham Borough losing its hard fought status as the having the cleanest streets in Greater Manchester?

Would the Leader of the Council agree with me that despite the sterling efforts of our frontline staff, the Borough’s streets are becoming dirtier?

Would he also not agree that the withdrawal of street cleaning services; promotion of self help and, community participation under the banner of the ‘Co-operative Council’ is failing to keep our streets and open spaces to a standard the public expect?

Vague and evasive answer not worth printing – Cllr Howard Sykes

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.