1) Beer but in fact the chips are down

Madame Mayor,

My first question concerns the immediate future of the hospitality industry in this Borough. 

The hospitality sector has come in for some particularly harsh treatment from this Government since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, despite the fact that it is estimated that only 3 – 5% of new infections originate from contacts in the hospitality industry in its broadest sense.

It has so far endured two national complete lockdowns.  Invested countless millions of pounds in retraining and providing PPE to staff, adapting physical structures and changing working practices to be Covid-safe. 

Faced counter-productive government requirements, such as closing at 10pm, or only serve alcohol with a ‘substantial meal’, meaning that small, wet-led pubs cannot operate profitably or indeed operate at all.  They are now closed in our Tier-3 Borough for an indefinite period with no clear end in sight.

In theory this closure could be for ‘wet’ led pubs until at least March 2021, as we must be in Tier-1 before they can legally reopen.

The reality is brewery, pub and restaurant operators are now at the end of their tether.

They have invested so much emotionally and financially, but the current ongoing uncertainty is taking its toll and frankly current Government financial support packages do not cut the mustard.

The one glimmer of immediate hope in this latest lockdown was a concession granted at the last-minute by the Government after intense pressure from industry bosses and CAMRA.

This was to permit alcohol, as well as food, to be sold by breweries, pubs and restaurants, if pre-ordered.  This has been described as a lifeline, saving at least 70 million pints of beer being immediately poured down the drain!

My question relates to how we as a Council might promote this offer to enable our local hospitality industry to survive?

I welcome the recent launch of the Council’s Virtual Market Place where our small independent traders can advertise in these difficult times, but at least these businesses can physically open.

CAMRA has a national website Brew2You on which breweries and pubs can advertise their wares for discerning customers enabling them to make online purchases for collection or delivery.

Would the Leader be willing to work with CAMRA and our local hospitality industry to create a similar website for Oldham which can be promoted alongside, or as part of the, the Virtual Market Place by Oldham Council, and help more of our local breweries, pubs and restaurants survive through these troubled times?

2)  Replacing Shaw and Crompton Health Centre

Madame Mayor,

For my second question, I would like to turn to another institution that is in dire straits.

I am referring to the Shaw and Crompton Health Centre which has been in desperate need of replacement for many years.

The latest housing development proposals for Shaw and Crompton will put yet more pressure on this outdated facility.

At present, we have a planning approval for 250 new homes at Cowlishaw, a new proposal for over 50 new homes on open land near Denbigh Drive, and a public consultation has just been concluded prior to an application for 400 new homes at the former Very and Yodel warehouse site.

If in the future a new ‘GMSF for the nine’ is to be brought back to Council, we would also see a further 482 homes in the Beal Valley and the number in the Cowlishaw area would double.

To summarise, this amounts to around 1,500 new properties – all of which are family homes and the residents and children of these new properties would all be looking to Shaw and Crompton Health Centre to provide for their immediate health needs.

Even before COVID-19, it often took days, sometimes weeks, for Shaw and Crompton residents to get a routine appointment – imagine how much harder it will be too do so with many thousands of more people making demands of an over-burdened service.

Therefore, in the recent public consultation for building on the Very and Yodel site the largest number of responses concerned the additional demands that would be placed on our local health service.

In early 2016, £500,000 was made available for a feasibility study into the options to build a new health centre, but almost five years on nothing has changed for the better; there is only now the prospect of greater and greater demands on the service.

My second question to the Leader tonight is then when will we finally see a new purpose-built, modern health centre provided for the people of Shaw and Crompton?