Liberal Democrat
Councillor Derek Heffernan will be proposing a motion to the next meeting of
Oldham Council (Wednesday 20 March) asking the Greater Manchester Pension Fund
to review its investments in fracking operations and in fossil fuels in light
of the recent decision by the Mayor of Greater Manchester and the leaders of
the ten local authorities making up the Greater Manchester Combined Authority
to ‘presume’ against fracking when considering planning applications.
Councillor Heffernan, who has previously served as the representative of Oldham Council on the board of the Pension Fund, described it as a ‘dilemma’: “How can we retain investments in fracking and in fossil fuels when the presumption is because of their environmental impact that these are a bad thing and to be avoided? We need our pension fund managers to take a long hard look at the situation and to consider if they are doing the right thing in retaining these investments.”
The Motion reads:
Council
notes that:
Given
the adverse impact of fracking, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority has
recently agreed to put planning measures in place for a ‘presumption’ against
fracking operations in Greater Manchester.
Despite
this, the Greater Manchester Pension Fund, as the largest in the country, has
over £1.2 billion invested in coal, oil and gas companies, including over
£150,000 invested with companies engaged in fracking operations in neighbouring
Lancashire
Council
therefore resolves to request the Chief Executive write to the Chief Executive
of the Greater Manchester Pension Scheme and the Mayor of Greater Manchester
asking them to review this position, and to take action to resolve this
dilemma.
Proposed by: Seconded by:
Councillor Derek Heffernan Councillor Howard Sykes MBE
Saddleworth North Liberal Democrat Councillor
Garth Harkness is proposing a motion to the next full meeting of Oldham Council
(Wednesday 20 March) asking for further measures to be adopted to tackle
speeding across the borough, including in his own ward.
Councillor Harkness first asked for action in
a letter sent last September to the Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor
Arooj Shah. Unfortunately six months on, nothing seems to have changed.
Councillor Harkness said: “Speeding is one of
those issues that every ward councillor receives complaints about on a regular
basis, yet action on this issue by this Labour Administration seems so slow. In
contrast, the Liberal Democrats seek action on road safety issues.”
“We have previously proposed 30mph zones on
residential streets but, after a long look by the Overview and Scrutiny Board,
nothing happened, and more recently we proposed Lorry Watch schemes to tackle
irresponsible truck drivers using the wrong Sat Navs and blocking our villages.”
“I now hope that Council will adopt this
motion and look to introduce more community led anti-speeding schemes backed by
roadside cameras to catch offenders.”
The motion reads:
Council
notes that speeding continues to be a factor in road collisions and that a
pedestrian is four times more likely to die if they are hit by a vehicle
travelling at forty miles per hours than they are at 30mph.
It is
therefore imperative that Council working with the Police and residents seek to
reduce excessive vehicular speeds in this borough, especially outside schools,
on minor residential roads and in rural areas.
Council
believes that we should work with our residents’ groups to deter and catch
offenders and that we should employ mobile technology in order to do so.
Council
therefore resolves to ask the Overview and Scrutiny Board to:
Identify, with the assistance of District
Executives, local police and the Council’s highways officers, locations not
currently equipped with a speed camera which might benefit from one for
consideration by the Drive Safe Greater Manchester Casualty Reduction
Partnership.
Explore the availability of funding to purchase
and deploy mobile speed cameras to catch offenders, change driver behaviour and
improve road safety.
Investigate how the Council and the police can
work with community and residents’ groups to establish Community Speed Watch
schemes and Community Concern speed enforcement sites in the Borough
Explore the merits of establishing ‘bus gates’
at suitable sites outside schools and look at establishing a pilot project.
(‘Bus gates’ limit vehicular through traffic outside schools to cycles and
local buses at the start and end of the school day, with a fixed penalty for
transgressors.)
The Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council is proposing a motion to the next Council (Wednesday 20 March) calling for more action on dog fouling and microchipping by adopting good practice from other local authorities, by making use of new technologies, and by working with the Dogs Trust charity.
The motion is being proposed by Shaw Liberal
Democrat Councillor Chris Gloster, who recently showed his support for the Dogs
Trust campaign ‘A Tail of True Love’ which calls on all dog owners to take
responsibility and show ‘true love’ to their pets by cleaning up after them.
Councillor Gloster said: “Dog fouling remains
one of my constituents’ biggest bugbears. As a ward councillor, I receive many
complaints as do my Liberal Democrat colleagues in Shaw and Crompton. Not only
is dog mess a disgusting eyesore, but it also represents a health hazard. Children
can be blinded by contact with it. Fortunately, most dog owners are responsible
and do clean up after their pets, but a small minority unfortunately do not.”
Councillor Gloster’s motion is seconded by Liberal
Democrat Crompton Councillor Dave Murphy, who proposed a similar motion to
Council in 2014. He said: “Following our last motion, the Council introduced a
boroughwide Public Space Protection Order, which covers dog fouling, but
unfortunately chose not to adopt any new technology to help detect and
apprehend offenders. We hope now that the technology is proven that it will now
be possible to take a fresh look at tackling this problem.”
The motion calls for awareness raising and
education to be undertaken to change the behaviour of errant owners and to
encourage them to micro-chip their pets so they can quickly be reunited if
their pets become lost. However ultimately the Liberal Democrats also recognise
that there is the need for a robust enforcement regime.
Councillor Gloster added: “Unfortunately there is sometimes the need for a stick when the carrot is insufficient. We would like to see technology introduced so members of the public can report offenders using their smart phones in real time and we want to see the Council imposing the highest on-the-spot fine of £100 on offenders that is permissible under a Public Space Protection Order.”
The motion appears below:
This Council notes that:
Though
most dog owners are law-abiding, a small number of irresponsible owners
still fail to clean up after their dogs or control them in public places
The
law requires owners to clean up after their dogs in public places, to keep
control of their pets, and to ensure their animal is micro-chipped and
displays a dog collar with the name and address of the owner
Under
powers granted to the Council under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and
Policing Act 2014, this Council introduced a borough-wide Public Space
Protection Order to replace five existing Dog Control Orders
In October 2014, following the adoption of
a motion by Council, the Overview and Scrutiny Board looked at additional
measures to combat dog fouling and nuisance; however, none were adopted.
Council recognises that, with the passage
of time, new innovative practices and the greater use of technology have in
other local authorities had a proven impact in addressing these issues.
This Council wishing to more effectively
prevent dog fouling and nuisance in this borough resolves to:
Apply the maximum on-the-spot fixed penalty applicable under the law (currently £100) where offences occur within areas covered by the Public Space Protection Order
Ask the Overview and Scrutiny Board to:
Re-examine current examples of best practice, and the powers granted to it in recent legislation, to determine which can, and should, be adopted in this borough;
Confer with The Dogs Trust to establish the ways in which the Council might work in partnership with them to address dog fouling, promote micro-chipping, or otherwise improve animal welfare;
And then
bring a report back on this matter to Council at the earliest opportunity.
Just a note to confirm that work has started this morning on the initial phase of making St Paul’s safe. As a consequence the site perimeter fence has been extended to allow vehicle access. This arrangement will be maintained until further notice, it does not restrict pedestrian access.
Due to the inconvenience the temporary waiting restrictions are creating for residents who live on the diversion route, a meeting has taken place with the Transport Managers at the Distribution Centres to see if alternative routes can be used through the centre of Shaw, in an evening period, when traffic flows have reduced.
The distribution centres have advised that an instruction has been given to their drivers to use a combination of Eastway, High Street and Westway from 8pm in the evening until 8am, In view of this the legal order for the waiting restrictions along Beal Lane, Grains Road, Hillside Avenue and Buckstones Road is being amended to reflect the changes so residents can park near to their homes from 8pm – 8am.
Arrangements are being made to have the signs changed, which will hopefully be completed by Monday (11th March). When the new signs appear , if you need the use of the highway to park you can do so between the hours of 8pm – 8 am.
Due to the use of Westway and Eastway in the evening period it will be necessary to prevent parking from 8pm – 8am along Westway ( High Street to Farrow Street East) and prohibit waiting at any time along the full length of Eastway.
This will be the primary point of contact for those who wish to have news of progress regarding the building and other matters.
The phone number should the lights at the junction of Buckstones Road/Milnrow fail to work correctly is: Amberon on 0845 371 5050.
COPY OF LETTER SENT TO DISTRIBUTION CENTRES LAST WEEK
Just a quick note to thank you all for your support in making alternative arrangements for the diversion routes which we have had to put in place following the partial collapse of the chapel in Shaw.
As the vehicles are redirected through residential areas, with schools also along the routes, could you please reinforce the need to all your drivers to reduce their speeds. We have had a number of reports from concerned residents which whilst they understand the need for the diversions are concerned at the speeds at which the vehicles are passing through which in turn necessitates the use of brakes.