This Wednesday (9 Sept), Oldham Council will be debating a motion calling for planning to have ‘democratic control at its heart’ in response to a Conservative Governments proposal to abolish Planning Committees, but to Liberal Democrat Group Leader, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, says Labour would have had more credibility over this issue if they practiced what they preached.
At the June 17 meeting of Oldham Council, despite the vocal objections of Liberal Democrat Councillors, the Labour Group abolished the entitlement of Ward Councillors to address the Planning Committee to speak about local applications on behalf of their constituents.
Labour also agreed changes to allow planning officers to dispose of public open land more easily, and empowered officers to decide on developments of 20 homes or less without bringing them for a decision before a meeting of the Planning Committee.
Abolishing the absolute right of Councillors to speak up for their constituents and the divestment of power from elected Planning Committees to unelected Planning officers are two proposals also contained in the Conservative Government’s new White Paper Planning for the Future, now out to public consultation.
The Liberal Democrats voted against the changes proposed by Labour; instead, in order to preserve planning democracy, they proposed three amendments to the proposals to require the Head of Planning to consult with the senior Opposition Spokesperson on Planning over appeals made by Councillors to speak before the Planning Committee and over plans to dispose of Council land and property. They also wanted the Friends of Parks and Moors groups to be properly recognised and consulted over the land for which they act as stewards.
Labour voted against all three amendments, defeating them.
Councillor Sykes said: “Labour cries foul when the Conservative Government threatens their vested interests and seeks to reduce their power over planning matters, but they are quite happy to ride roughshod over the democratic rights of individual members to speak for their constituents to the Planning Committee or over the rights of local people or the members of the Friends groups, who do such sterling service as the unpaid stewards of public land, to speak up over housing developments that hurt their communities.”
Councillor Sykes added: “The Conservative Group for its part did not seem to know which way was up. Two Conservative Councillors, including its Group Leader, simply chose not to vote and only one Tory Councillor amongst the four was consistent in supporting our position.”
“This just goes to show that only the Liberal Democrats can be trusted to stand up for democratic values in Council; clearly voting Conservative means voting for confusion and indecision. I hope the electorate will remember that when they cast their ballots at the 2021 local elections.”
The Oldham Liberal Democrats have welcomed the creation of a so called new £400-million Brownfield Land fund, from which £81.1 million will be made available to the 10 Greater Manchester Authorities over the next five years, but say the overall investment ‘won’t scratch the surface’ when compared to the cost of remediating former industrial land in our City Region to make it fit for housing.
Alongside publishing a new White Paper ‘Planning for the Future’ last month, the Conservative Government restated its so-called commitment to building new homes on brownfield sites first; an approach the Oldham Liberal Democrats have been campaigning for years.
Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Liberal Democrat Group Leader, explained: “According to Department of Trade figures, the UK has approximately 1,000,000 acres of contaminated land, much of it in Northern towns, like Oldham Borough. The estimated average cost of cleaning up contaminated land is £250,000 per acre – meaning a staggering £250-billion would be required to clear them all up for development. Seen against these figures, a £400-million National Brownfield Land fund, though welcome, looks woefully inadequate if we are serious.”
“Even if Oldham received the full £81.1 million allocated to Greater Manchester, and we will not, it won’t really scratch the surface. In a Borough with an industrial heritage of textile manufacturing; dye and chemical works; engineering and coal mining; we have an awful lot of sites that are heavily contaminated, and these will need a lot of money to clean up to make ready for any redevelopment especially housing. We will of course accept any money we are given, but the Liberal Democrats see this as a small step forward on a long journey to securing the serious money for remediation that we need.”
The Liberal Democrats are keen to point out that most of the money allocated to Greater Manchester is not new.
Councillor Sykes added: “When the ten Labour Greater Manchester authorities agreed to the Government’s Greater Manchester Spatial Framework to build tens of thousands of new homes across our city region over two decades, the deal came with a sweetener – a promise of £50 million from central government for remediation. The Conservatives then reneged on that promise, something the Oldham Liberal Democrats drew public attention to in our motion to Oldham Council on this issue in July 2019. Now the cash is back, and we have to be mindful to continue to fight to hold onto it this second time.”
The motion to the full meeting of Oldham Council on 10 July 2019 read:
Restoring Government Funding for Brownfield Housing Development
Council notes that:
The Conservative Government in its white paper ‘Fixing our Broken Housing Market’ stated that more homes should be built ‘by maximising the contribution from brownfield sites’.
Brownfield sites suffer from significant contamination, whether below-ground or in a building’s construction, which is the result of previous industrial use as cotton mills; chemical and coal gas plants; coal mines; and dye works.
Decontaminating such sites is very expensive at an average cost of £250,000 per acre and this cost often renders housing developments unaffordable.
According to Department of Trade figures, approximately 1 million acres of brownfield sites are contaminated.
Much of this land is in Northern towns, like Oldham, a legacy of their industrial past.
In the Outline Housing Package agreed between the ten Greater Manchester authorities and the Conservative Government in 2017, a ‘land fund’ worth up to £50 million was pledged by central government to support the development of housing on brownfield sites by paying for the cost of remediation.
The Conservative Government has recently reneged on this pledge.
Council condemns the decision by the Conservative Government to withdraw its offer of the Outline Housing Package, which will make the delivery of new homes on brownfield sites unaffordable and force more development onto the Green Belt, a direct contradiction of the Government’s own stated policy.
Council resolves to ask the Chief Executive to:
Write to the Secretary of State for Communities and Housing urging the minister to restore the Outline Housing Package to fund the remediation of brownfield sites in Greater Manchester
Copy in our local MPs, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, the leaders of the other Greater Manchester local authorities and the Chair of the Local Government Association asking them for their support for Oldham’s position.
The Oldham Liberal Democrats are backing a national campaign to raise public awareness that not everyone who uses an accessible public toilet has a visible disability. The campaign by the charity Crohn’s and Colitis UK encourages venues with such toilets to install special signage with the logo ‘Not every disability is visible’.
Crompton Councillor Louie Hamblett, who is the Shadow Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care, is raising this issue in a motion to the next meeting of the full Council (September 9). He said: “This motion is timely. The requirement to wear face coverings in shops and on public transport has started to raise public awareness that people can be exempted from their use because of a hidden disability. Accessible toilets, often opened using a RADAR key, are also sometimes needed by people who have a hidden disability. This campaign is around raising public awareness of that fact to help stop stigma and discrimination, and inappropriate challenges by staff, against those who have ‘invisible illnesses’, such as Crohn’s Disease.”
“The Oldham Liberal Democrats want the Council to ensure that the accessible toilets in our buildings all have this signage and that our onsite staff all receive appropriate training. We would also like to see retailers and leisure outlets across our borough encouraged to do the same.”
The motion also calls on the Council to install a Changing Places toilet in any new large Council building that opens to the public, and for new and existing Changing Places toilets to be properly sign-posted. The Government has legislated to make such toilets compulsory from next year.
Shaw Councillor Hazel Gloster, who is backing the motion, said: “The new legal requirement to provide Changing Places toilets to enable people with invisible disabilities to use purpose-built facilities affording them proper privacy and dignity is very welcome and long overdue. As a local authority with a duty to serve the public we have a responsibility to ensure that we properly plan for their provision in any of our new buildings. It is completely unacceptable that people with severe disabilities must sometimes wait hours to be able to access an appropriate toilet that meets their needs”.
The motion to the full meeting of Oldham Council (September 9) reads:
Not every Disability is Visible
This Council notes that:
The charity Crohn’s and Colitis UK is encouraging venues providing accessible public toilets to install new signage. This is to help stop stigma and discrimination towards people with ‘invisible illnesses’ such as Crohn’s Disease and ulcerative colitis.
There have been instances nationally where such individuals using an accessible toilet have been accused by staff members of being ineligible to use them.
These signs have two standing figures and a wheelchair user with the words Accessible Toilet and the logo ‘Not every disability is visible’.
The Government has decided recently that large accessible toilets for severely disabled people – known as Changing Places – will be made compulsory for large new buildings, such as shopping centres, supermarkets, sports and arts venues, in England from 2021.
Council resolves to:
Ensure that accessible toilets on Council premises bear these signs.
Ask town and district centre retailers and leisure outlets to do likewise with their accessible public toilets.
Seek advice from the charity Crohn’s and Colitis UK on the information and training we should provide to Council Staff members. This is so they understand these illnesses and to prevent potential embarrassment for those who suffer with them.
Ensure that any Changing Places toilets in our buildings are properly signposted for visitors.
Ensure that the requirement to provide new Changing Place toilets is included within the Council’s future plans for new public buildings in the Borough.
The Oldham Liberal Democrat Group has echoed the recent call of Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal for more local action over litter by tabling a motion at the next meeting of the Full Council (September 9) on the issue.
The campaign group Keep Britain Tidy is organising the Great British September Clean-Up from 11 – 27 September, and Liberal Democrat Councillors Diane Williamson and Sam Al-Hamdani see this as ideal opportunity to get the Council, its employees, local businesses and residents working together to make our borough cleaner.”
Crompton Councillor Diane Williamson, who is proposing the motion, said: “No one wants to see litter on our streets. It makes our neighbourhoods look dirty and unloved. We want to encourage residents and businesses to join forces with the Council to clear our streets and parks of litter.”
“At a time when many of us may feel powerless and isolated as a consequence of Covid-19, this is something everyone can get involved in, from young to old, and whatever your infirmity, to make a difference in your community. Even if everyone could just pick up one piece of litter every day during this campaign, it would make such a difference.”
Saddleworth West and Lees Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani, who is seconding the motion, is especially keen to see businesses get involved: “In our motion, we are asking local businesses to engage with this campaign by signing up as supporters of the DEFRA voluntary code which sets out practical steps businesses can take to reduce litter. They can also help by sponsoring a local litter bin and public education programmes, especially if they sell products, such as fast food, where packaging is often quickly discarded by customers. If we can reduce the packaging, educate the customer to throw their rubbish in the bin rather than on the floor, and then provide an extra bin for them to throw it in, so much the better.”
The Liberal Democrats are also keen to see the trial of at least one reverse vending machine in the Borough. Councillor Williamson explained: “Several of our large supermarket chains have already trialled these elsewhere in the UK, and it would be great to see one in Oldham. Purchasers of drinks cans bring them back to store when they are empty and put them into the machine, where they receive a credit note to spend in store on other purchases. This incentivises customers to bring empties back to store rather than dumping them in the waste or worse still throwing them in a hedge by a roadside.”
The motion to Oldham Council on September 9 reads:
Let’s all do our bit to tackle litter
Council is committed to tackling litter in our Borough and to working for cleaner streets and public spaces across our communities.
Council notes that:
The Keep Britain Tidy Campaign offers local authorities the opportunity to become a member of a Network, which provides access to specialist advice and support.
Keep Britain Tidy is hosting the Great British September Clean-Up from 11-27 September.
The campaign is also promoting a Love Parks campaign and a Charity Bin sponsorship scheme whereby the monies raised from recycling cans deposited in designated local authority bins is contributed to local charities.
Several national supermarket chains are now operating trials of reverse vending machines, where customers are rewarded for returning used cans and bottles for recycling.
The Government department DEFRA has also previously published a voluntary code for local businesses and local business partnerships to sign up to and reduce the litter that results from fast food businesses.
Council recognises that:
Whilst we are committed to tackling litter in our Borough, and to working for cleaner streets and public spaces across our communities, we cannot do this alone.
In the battle for cleaner streets and public spaces, we must involve the public and our business partners in a co-operative effort.
There are community champions and organisations commendably ‘doing their bit’.
The Keep Britain Tidy and DEFRA initiatives provide extra opportunities and an extra incentive for members of the public and business partners to become actively engaged and empowered in tackling the litter which blights our streets.
In doing their bit, residents and business will help the Council to make the streets, district centres, parks and public amenities of our Borough cleaner and more inviting to residents and visitors.
Council resolves to:
Promote participation in the Great British September Clean-up to members of the public, community, faith and youth groups, and businesses through our social media, website and existing email-outs to partners.
Ask the Overview and Scrutiny Board to examine the merits of becoming a local authority member of the Keep Britain Tidy Network, and identify which of the campaign’s initiatives, including Love Parks and Charity Bins, could be introduced in the Borough.
Ask the Chief Executive to write to national supermarket chains with stores in this borough asking them to consider Oldham as the location for a future trial of a reverse vending machine.
Promote take up of the DEFRA voluntary code amongst our fast food businesses and local business partnerships and seek their sponsorship for the introduction of a Charity Bin scheme and for public education programmes.
Traffic cops often feature in our television shows, but the harsh reality is that the traffic officers forming the thin blue line are too few and grossly underfunded, and the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council wants to do something about that.
Liberal Democrat Councillors are taking a motion to the next meeting of Oldham Council (9 September) calling for a restoration of funding for traffic policing to help prevent road deaths and for traffic policing to be made a priority in Greater Manchester.
Figures published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy show a 34% cut in funding in real terms for road policing between 2012/3 and 2019/20 meaning less officers available to keep our streets safe.
The Deputy Group Leader, Councillor Chris Gloster is proposing the motion. Chris, a Shaw Councillor, is a former Greater Manchester Police Inspector with 30 years’ front-line experience, patrolling Oldham’s streets.
“A damning report published in July by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary showed that the investment in roads policing is totally inadequate. Due to years of chronic under-funding, traffic cops are left over-stretched, under-resourced and treated like a Cinderella service, though what they do is so vital,” stated Councillor Gloster.
“Road policing has had its budget cut by far more than any other Police department, and this has meant more lives have been needlessly lost and more people needlessly injured in road accidents. In just three years, between 2015 and 2018, the Conservative Government cut funding by a quarter. Not only did this mean less officers were available to police our streets, but it also led to an increase by a quarter in the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads. The lesson here is clear; investment in road policing saves lives,” he added.
Councillor Gloster is clear that under funding has led to less enforcement against drivers committing serious traffic offences which contribute to road accidents.
“The rise in road deaths and serious injuries is linked to a sharp decline in impairment testing. Drivers now get behind a wheel under the influence of drugs or drink, and we need to do more testing to tackle this.” Said Councillor Gloster.
“The Inspectorate report also showed that Police enforcement involving the reckless use of mobile phones by drivers and driving without a seat beat have slumped by as much as 75% since 2011. When certain drivers think they can get away with irresponsible and criminal behaviour, they will. To prevent this, enforcement is key and to have enough traffic officers to do this you need to invest in them.”.
The motion is being seconded by his colleague for Saddleworth North, Councillor Garth Harkness.
Garth and his Liberal Democrat colleagues have previously proposed that Oldham Council adopt several major initiatives to improve road safety across the borough, including:
introducing a default speed limit of 20mph on minor residential roads
calling for more funding for speed cameras at danger spots
introducing gating schemes to keep our children safe when they are dropped off or picked up by their parents from school
establishing more Speed-watch and Lorry Watch schemes to enable concerned citizens to support the Police in reporting traffic violations
seeking more Police enforcement on pavement parking, and
further investment in vehicle activated road signage to curb speeding.
Garth is passionate about road safety: “I was proud to propose several of these initiatives on behalf of the Liberal Democrat Group, but, unfortunately, the Labour Administration has chosen not taken any of these ideas forward in any meaningful way. I hope on this occasion they will at least back this motion as it is so important that we get more traffic police on our streets to help keep everyone safe, especially our children and elderly.”
In addition to calling for a restoration of Government funding and a Council response to the recent consultation, Councillors Gloster and Harkness want the Greater Manchester Police and Crime Panel to prioritise traffic policing in the local policing plan.
Councillor Chris Gloster ends: “The recent Inspectorate report clearly indicated that insufficient training and support was given by many Police Services to their traffic officers. This is not just about money, it is also about valuing traffic officers and giving them ‘the tools’ they need to do the job. I hope the Police and Crime Panel will feel able to give traffic policing in Greater Manchester the priority it deserves. We all have the right to feel safe on our streets”.
The motion to Oldham Council on 9 September reads:
Roads Policing ‘Not Optional’
Council notes that:
In the last ten years, there has been no significant decline in the number of people killed and seriously injured on Britain’s roads, after decades of reducing casualties.
According to Department of Transport figures, there are still on average 5 fatalities and 68 serious injuries in England and Wales every day.
In early July, the Department of Transport published a public consultation document supporting a Roads Policing Review. The closing date for submissions is October 5th.
In the preamble to that document, the Under Secretary of State for Transport said the review sought to ‘build the fairest and most operationally effective enforcement capability in police and other agencies to deliver the best outcome for the safety of all road users.’
In the same month, the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary published a damning report which predicted an increase in road deaths because:
According to the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, there has been a 34% cut in funding in real terms for road policing between 2012/3 and 2019/20 leading to a reduction of police officers available for these duties.
These officers receive insufficient training and operational support.
Road policing is ‘seen as less of a priority than it should be’ in most local plans and there is an ‘unclear national strategy.’
The HM Inspectorate called for urgent action as ‘roads policing is not optional.’
Council resolves to:
Ask the Chief Executive to write to the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Transport, making clear this Council’s position that funding in real terms for road policing should be restored; that the HM Inspectorate’s recommendations be implemented in full as a priority; and that a new national strategy for road policing and safety should be developed.
Ask the Chief Executive to send copies of this letter to the Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner, the Police and Crime Panel and our three local Members of Parliament to seek their support for the Council’s position.
Ask the Council’s representative on the Greater Manchester Police and Crime Panel to request the Panel revisit the local policing plan to ensure that roads policing is sufficiently prioritised.
Ask the Chief Executive, in conjunction with the appropriate Council officers and the relevant Cabinet Member, to make a submission to the Roads Policing Review consultation on behalf of the Council taking this resolution into account.
The statement is issued following recent comments on social media and follows the original one made in December 2017.
On the 7th September 2017, Rod Blyth was suspended from the Liberal Democrat Group of Oldham Council following information that he had been arrested. The suspension was immediate and continued whilst GM Police conducted their investigation.
The Liberal Democrat Group has never been informed by GM Police of the nature or details of the allegations involving Mr Blyth and this has remained the situation to date.
The Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council was informed that Mr Blyth had resigned for personal reasons with immediate effect on AM Saturday 9th December 2017. Mr Blyth also resigned from the Liberal Democrats on the same date.
We are aware that Rod Blyth has been convicted of offences relating to indecent images. At that time, he was a private citizen. He was no longer a councillor nor a member of the Liberal Democrats.
Note – copy of previous statement from 11 December 2017 below
Date: 11 December 2017
Statement from Cllr Chris Gloster, Chairman of Oldham Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council
The Oldham Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council have been made aware that Cllr Rod Blyth has resigned from his position as a Borough Councillor for the Shaw Ward on Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council for personal reasons with immediate effect on Saturday 9 December 2017.
The Group have also been made aware that Cllr Blyth is subject to an ongoing police investigation.
The Liberal Democrats are unaware of the details of that investigation. The Liberal Democrat Council Group as a consequence of that information did immediately suspend (as a neutral act) Cllr Blyth from the Liberal Democrats, as per our rules about such matters.
There will be no by–election as it is less than six months to when this seat (3 May 18) would be up for election. Until that time the other Liberal Democrat Borough Councillors for Shaw and Crompton will cover all duties such as ward surgeries and casework so local residents are not disadvantaged.
No further comment will be made at this time whilst the matter is subject of a police investigation.
