EDITOR Oldham Chronicle – We write in response to ‘Oak Street Resident’ (Chronicle letters, ‘Future uncertain’, Monday, July 16).
Although members of different political parties in Oldham, we stand united in our response to the Shaw explosion and its aftermath.
We are joined in grief for the Heaton family and share a determination to continue assisting them – and the other residents displaced and affected by this tragic unforeseen event – with full and fair support.
We also share pride at the work undertaken by Council staff plus a range of partner organisations, including the Blue Light services, in response to this incident.
We are equally united in our rejection of the claims and personal attacks contained in the anonymous letter on Monday and will again put the record straight.
It is easy to attack the Council and speculate on matters because we are not allowed to publicly comment on individual cases and claims due to data protection issues. That confidentiality is something that we must – and will – respect for affected residents.
Everyone has the right to an opinion about how the Council and others responded to the incident: that is their right. But it is also wrong for ‘Oak Street Resident’ to misrepresent facts and attack individuals in such a misinformed way.
Reading that letter it would be easy to conclude that everyone within the 175 properties originally evacuated is fighting hard against an unfair council that doesn’t understand the problems people are facing.
This is simply not true.
Firstly, it suggests that people have been told they need to pay for their own demolished properties to be cleared away.
This has been addressed before. It is normal that costs associated with demolition in an incident like this are recharged to insurance companies. We continue to assist people who weren’t insured to address these concerns and support them through any legal procedures or financial hardship.
A second ‘untruth’ is to suggest that money from the Distress Fund is being offered as loans, not grants. Again this is untrue – and has already been made clear.
The original ‘Crisis Loans’, issued the day after the blast, were just that.
These were emergency funds to support people until the Oldham Distress Fund was set up. This is a totally separate fund, to which people and the Council donated – and no payments from the Distress Fund are repayable.
Trustees must ensure that funds are given appropriately and are working hard processing applications daily to ensure people are treated with due dignity and confidentiality, and fully supported throughout the process.
We know that for some people this has been a life-changing event and emotions have obviously run high at times.
Where we have made mistakes we will hold our hands up and accept criticism where there has, for example, been slow communication or a lack of clarity.
However, we wholly reject the personal criticisms made of Councillor Jean Stretton and Shaw Ward Councillors, Howard Sykes, Rod Blyth and Mark Alcock in this letter.
As the responsible Cabinet Member, Jean Stretton stood up to be counted in a crisis situation. She showed leadership, humanity and strength in a very difficult situation and continues to do so in her work on the Distress Fund.
The Shaw ward councillors were also actively involved in the Council response and the Distress Fund. They continue to work alongside residents and offer support to anyone who needs it.
The local community in Shaw is recovering and we are determined to assist that process.
We stand proud of the way that people and partner organisations pulled together in these extreme circumstances.
As a group we remain resolute in our determination to continue doing whatever is necessary to help.
Howard Sykes (Opposition Leader and Shaw Ward Member)
Jim McMahon (Oldham Council Leader)
Councillors Jenny Harrison, Mark Alcock, Abdul Jabbar and Steven Bashforth (Oldham Distress Fund Trustees).