Oldham Liberal Democrat Group Leader, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has welcomed news that funding will finally soon be made available to replace defective road safety cameras across Greater Manchester.

Councillor Sykes is a board member on the Greater Manchester Transport Committee.  At today’s meeting (15/10/21) he was able to raise the issue of many cameras being dysfunctional, in some cases for years, and he received the reassurance that funding will now be made available to carry out a procurement exercise to enable all cameras to be digitalised and restored to working order from April 2022.

Councillor Sykes was delighted to hear the news, commenting:  “I have raised this issue at a number of meetings over several years, and having got nowhere, in September 2020, I wrote a lengthy letter to the Chief Executive of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Eamonn Boylan, outlining my concerns and aspirations about the availability of safety cameras.”

“Cameras play a vital function in monitoring and checking vehicle speeds to help maintain road safety and save lives.  It is absolutely crazy to allow cameras to fall into disrepair, some have been out-of-order for years, so I am glad that not only will funding finally be provided for repairs, but safety cameras will at last be updated with the latest digital technology.”