Join the Summer Reading Challenge at Oldham Library 


Join the Summer Reading Challenge at Oldham Library 

Get ready for an exciting adventure this summer! Oldham Library and Gallery Oldham are hosting the Summer Reading Challenge for children aged four to 11 years old.

This amazing opportunity aims to keep kids active and engaged during the school holidays through the power of reading. The challenge begins with Sign Up Saturday on July 15, from 11am to 3pm.

By signing up, children receive free materials from Oldham Libraries and the Challenge website. They’ll have the chance to explore new books, develop important skills, and discover new interests.

Don’t miss the Sign-Up Saturday event at Oldham Library. Receive your Ready, Set Read! pack and enjoy themed activities including crazy golf, smoothie bikes, and a visit from World Champion skater, Jenna Downing.

For more details on events, activities, and services available visit our webpage

Speeders of Shaw beware

“Speeders of Shaw beware” Liberal Democrats welcome active speed cameras after years of campaigning

Liberal Democrat councillors in Shaw have welcomed newly repaired speed cameras in Shaw and Crompton after years of campaigning for safer streets. 

Oldham Liberal Democrat Opposition Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE said, “For years we have been fighting for cameras like the one on Milnrow Road in Shaw, to be made active again.”

“These cameras are there to do a job and it can be as serious as life or death.  So, I’m delighted that the years of work have finally paid off; and that the authorities have now listened to the people of Shaw and acted to make our roads safer.  We now need action on areas like Buckstones Road, Hillside Avenue and Crompton Way.”

Fellow Liberal Democrat councillor for Shaw, Hazel Gloster said, “Finally! Some action after years of frustration for Shaw residents.  Speeders of Shaw and Crompton beware!  I know this safety improvement will be cheered across the community.”

Liberal Democrats call on speed cameras to be made functional (Nov 2019)

CALL FOR SPEED CAMERAS TO BE MADE FUNCTIONAL – Howard Sykes (mycouncillor.org.uk)

North Korea would be proud of Oldham speed camera secrecy (Sept 2020)

Secrecy over speed camera criteria “is something North Korea would be very proud of,” says Liberal Democrat Leader – Howard Sykes (mycouncillor.org.uk)

Councillor Sykes welcomes belated funding for safety cameras (Oct 2021)

Liberal Democrat Leader welcomes belated funding for safety cameras – Howard Sykes (mycouncillor.org.uk)

Anger as Shaw Residents wait years for working cameras (Apr 2022)

Anger as Shaw residents wait years for working speed signs despite the cash having been found – Howard Sykes (mycouncillor.org.uk)

Get on with it – Sykes welcomes long overdue speed camera repairs (May 2023)

“Get on with it”: Sykes welcomes “long overdue” speed camera repairs after years of campaigning in Shaw – Howard Sykes (mycouncillor.org.uk)

ROTARY YOUNG LEADERS AWARD

R.Y.L.A. 2023

We are very pleased to announce that R.Y.L.A. will take place at Petty Pool this year.

R.Y.L.A. is a training course specifically designed for young people who already demonstrate some leadership abilities and a dynamic personality. Rotary’s purpose is to try to help to develop those skills to become lifelong assets.

This is an unrivalled opportunity for young people aged 15 to 16 years of age to attend a residential training course in a purpose built centre and meet others who also display this type of drive.

The instructors of this course have devised a programme that will stretch the students in various ways mostly involving team exercises outdoors and reflective exercises later in the evenings.

The course is scheduled to take place over a full week from Monday 14th August to Friday 18th August 2023.

The course is aimed at young people who already have something about them, a bit of drive, enthusiasm, character etc. this course is designed to stretch and develop young people like this.

Although we advertise the course for candidates aged 14 to 15 years of age dependant on the maturity of the individual, we can be flexible here.

Because of safeguarding regulations, we absolutely cannot accept any applications from candidates who already are or will become 18 years of age during the week of the course.

The cost per candidate is £300 funded by Crompton & Royton Rotary Club.

The course is scheduled to take place at Petty Pool over a full week from Monday 14th August to Friday 18th August 2023 if anybody is interested, please ask them to get in touch to discuss in more detail.

If you know of someone who may be interested, please contact either Garry at  garry.gillian@hotmail.co.uk or Andy at andy.czakow@outlook.com

“Time for Oldham Council to finally start getting the basics right” say Liberal Democrats

“Time for Oldham Council to finally start getting the basics right” say Liberal Democrats


Oldham Council’s Liberal Democrat Opposition is set to lay down a serious challenge to the ruling Labour Party at a forthcoming council meeting on July 12th. 

The Liberal Democrats, led by councillor Howard Sykes MBE will call on the council to “finally start getting the basics right”, as they table a motion demanding improved local services such as road repairs, park maintenance and action on environmental crime.

Councillor Sykes said, “People are sick of council services that don’t deliver.  You only need to walk around our communities, and you’ll see neglected parks and green spaces, overgrown footpaths and roads in a state of complete disrepair.  Meanwhile, littering, dog-fouling and fly-tipping offenders get off scot-free.  If the Labour administration take any pride in Oldham, they don’t exactly show it.”

Shaw Liberal Democrat representative councillor Hazel Gloster, who will second the proposal added, “When residents and councillors go to report these basic complaints, they end up being passed from pillar to post with no proper communication.  Nothing ends up getting done and it does tremendous damage to people’s trust in their local leaders.”

Crompton Ward councillor Dave Murphy, who will speak to propose the motion said, “Services across the borough are regularly falling short of agreed standards and this is about standing up for the people we represent.  If contractors or council departments are failing to get very basic things right, the first knock on the door should be coming from a member of the Labour ruling group.” 

“But that just isn’t happening in Oldham.  After 12 years in office, the Labour Party has become obsessed with flashy town centre projects that fail to deliver.  They have completely lost interest in the basic services that people rely on day in, day out.  The Liberal Democrats see it as our mission to put that right.”


Full council 12/07/2023 – Notice of Opposition Motion
Liberal Democrat Group

Time for Oldham to get the basics right

Proposed by: councillor Dave Murphy
Seconded by: councillor Hazel Gloster

This Council believes that:

Residents across Oldham Borough expect and deserve first class public services. 

Residents feel that services such as schools, maintenance of roads, planning, park maintenance and drain clearance represent some of the most significant work that the council does because they affect the everyday lives of the people we represent. 

When residents say they cannot rely on these services to be of consistent high quality, it undermines the trust that residents place in their council and their readiness to engage with services and that the Council should listen and take action.

Pride in service, strong communication, agility, resourcefulness and good interdepartmental cooperation are all essential values in delivering first class services across the board, and that these values must be set from the top down. 


This Council notes that:

There is a growing trend of complacent underperformance that affects much of the council’s key service delivery and it needs addressing.  This is keenly felt by our residents, who regularly tell us that they feel their council “does not get the basics right.”

Fly-tipping offences have spiralled out of control in Oldham, with the Borough seeing massive increases in offences when compared to other authorities across the North West.

Littering and dog-fouling offences continue unabated, with the council failing to issue Fixed Penalty Notices with any meaningful consistency or to come up with stronger solutions to tackle this ongoing issue. 

Oldham’s schools are falling behind, with more than half now deemed as ‘needing improvement and it cannot continue.

This Council resolves to:

Move away from vanity projects that do not materialise and refocus its priorities; directing as much effort and attention into supporting basic frontline services as it has done into regeneration projects.

To take this motion to Overview and Scrutiny to see what can be done to improve the situation and provide a report to council on their findings.

Health Centre – Shaw and Crompton

Your local Liberal Democrat councillors have been concerned building work for the new health centre has appeared to stop.  We are pleased to report this will be only a short delay and serious construction works will start shortly.

Recently the old sub station has been demolished.

Below is the text of recent correspondence from NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care about the development and following a meeting with the site manager of the Shaw development.

Shaw Crompton GP Practice Development

I wanted to write to you formally to express my sincere gratitude for the work you have done in recent days with local businesses and residents in and around the Shaw Crompton GP Practice development.

Although the development is now in the hands of the third-party developer and the GP Practices concerned, my team and I remain involved in a slightly different way having secured the capital to develop the scheme.  That said I am aware of the concerns from local businesses about access impinging their commercial enterprises, so I am grateful for you meeting with the developer last week to help clarify matters for your residents and business owners.  I am pleased that there is now some common agreement that there should be no minimal access issues during the build process.

More generally, I thought it would be worthwhile clarifying the overall programme.  First and foremost, I continue to assert that this programme will happen.  We secured the capital and remain committed to that position.  

The only things that could now in effect materially change that are a withdrawal by the GP Practices, but that is unlikely as the building they currently occupy is at the end of its life; or withdrawal of the capital but that would be a national decision by Government which is also extremely unlikely as the funding has been committed to the developer now.

It is worth me pointing out that the scheme is delayed by around four to six weeks.  That is not uncommon in building programmes of this nature.  However, that delay is not consequent to anything other than complexity of building processes. In simple terms two issues have slowed matters down temporarily.

Firstly, the developers have identified some unforeseen contamination issues around oil and gas.  That has necessitated some remedial works to be undertaken to deal with those issues.  Secondly, some unforeseen costs around the sub-station have had to be dealt with but have taken quite a bit longer than we had anticipated in the overall programme plan.  I believe that this matter is now resolved.

In conclusion the scheme is slightly delayed by a small number of weeks, but I would expect visible activity will commence on site and people will be able to see it in the very near future i.e. once the contamination issues have been resolved to the Council inspector’s satisfaction.