Volunteers are invited to help halt the progress of Himalayan balsam, an invasive plant on Crompton Moor, and in Crompton Hall Saturday 14 July

The pink-flowered non-native species smothers riverside/stream habitats; harms native plants, and leaves banks bare and subject to erosion when it dies down.

It has to be pulled up or ‘bashed’ before seed pods explode and spread.

Himalayan balsam was introduced to the UK for ornamental gardens but spread into the wild.

If you can spare a couple of hours to help, we will be meeting in….

Brushes Clough car park, on Crompton Moor at 10:30 am on Saturday the 14th of July 2018

For further information please contact: Marian Herod, Secretary, Friends of Crompton Moor, marian.herod@btinternet.com     Tel: 07792 156295

 

My two allowed questions at tonight’s Council meeting 11-12 July – a gateway unfit for a prince, an unwanted old mongrel, and school places or rather the lack of them

Q1 Leader Question – a gateway unfit for a prince and an unwanted old mongrel

Mr Mayor, the new Leader has talked about his plans to revise the Masterplan for the Oldham Town Centre.  I am sure everyone in this chamber, myself included, will look forward to seeing the revised proposals.

But first let me raise with the Leader tonight the issue of outstanding developments on two other town centre sites – that of Prince’s Gate and of Hotel Future.

The Council’s website still proclaims Prince’s Gate is “one of the most ambitious redevelopments for our town centre since the 1980’s”.  Former Leader Jim McMahon called it “a game-changer for the new Oldham.”

Version 1 of this Royally-named scheme was due to open in 2017, but it collapsed when the flagship retailer Marks and Spencers pulled out despite a £9million plus sweetener to fit out their new store and a promise of rent free occupancy for six months.

On then to Version 2, minus M&S or may be just an M&S Food Hall.  And now another Labour Council Leader, Councillor Jean Stretton, who was supposed to announce a new development partner for the site in the summer of 2017.  Some 12 months on, not a shout nor a sign – so perhaps we are onto Version 3, now we have yet another Labour Council Leader?

Mr Mayor, Prince’s Gate was supposed to deliver 700 jobs and £21 million a year to the local economy.  Instead it has so far cost the Council Tax payers of Oldham many millions in undisclosed abortive costs spent on marketing, planning and regeneration professionals as well as the costs of site assembly and clearance.

And what do we have to show for it – a very, very costly car park.  Truly then a gateway fit more for a Pauper than a Prince.

Let us next turn to another site – the ‘will it, won’t it go ahead’ hotel and conference centre on our doorstep, the development adjoining the Queen Elizabeth Hall, formerly known as Hotel Future.

Poor Hotel Future has become like an unwanted old mongrel when it was once a Crufts pedigree.

It was first a bespoke hotel training establishment offering courses in the hospitality industry, then it became a standard hotel from a standard hotel chain, then the plan was abandoned when the site, including the Queen Elizabeth Hall, was scheduled for demolition.

And now the new Leader is holding out the promise of refurbishing the QE Hall and perhaps putting the hotel back on site.

In any case, the joke has clearly been again at the expense of Oldham Council Tax payers.  It was revealed in a recent response to a Freedom of Information Act request that £418,670 has been spent on this project between 2011 and its abandonment in July 2017.

Here then is my final question.

Will the Leader please end the misery and tell us what development will be done, when it will be done and with whom it will be done on the Prince’s Gate and the Hotel Future sites?

Q2 – Council 11 July 2018 – Leader’s Question – School places or rather the lack of them

For my second question to the Leader tonight, Mr Mayor, I have to return to an issue I raised with his predecessor almost exactly one year ago today – namely the lack of availability of places for the children of our Borough in the schools of their choice.

I am sorry to have to tell you, Mr Mayor, colleagues, that one year on, the situation is now worse not better!

This year, in Oldham, 387 children missed out on a place at any of their preferred secondary schools.  Yes that is right ANY of their preferred schools.

That is one in nine Year 6 pupils or 10.9% to be exact.  Of those who got a place at one of their preferred secondary schools, only 73% got their first preference.  That compares badly with the national picture where 82% got a place at a first preference school.

Overall we were bottom of the class – the worst performing local authority in Greater Manchester – when it came to offering school places!

That’s almost 400 children (and their parents) failed by our system, not getting their first choice of secondary school, and not getting their second or third either.

And I regret that this is even worse than last year when I could report to Council that 8.9% of pupils did not secure a place to start at any of their preferred schools in September 2017.  That is 2% more than 12 months ago.

Mr Mayor, as I said last year, and I make no apology for saying it again, this situation is scandalous – we can do better, much better and we must do better, for the sake of our children and their educational future.

Because if we do not offer children a place at a secondary school that they want to go to how can we inspire them to strive to do their best in their final years of schooling.

I look forward to the Council meeting when I can ask the Leader a positive question about education in our Borough – I am sorry to say that with the current level of performance that I cannot see this as being at any point soon.

I am pleased that the replacement Royton and Crompton School is now beginning to be built in my part of the world, and that we also have a promised expansion at Crompton House School, albeit with the caveat that we in Shaw and Crompton are anxious to ensure that these places are first directed at local pupils.

However for colleagues in Saddleworth and the families they represent, the replacement school at the Diggle site still appears far off and uncertain, years behind schedule.

I would therefore like to ask the Leader what has been done to make more secondary school places available from this September; what is being done to get the Saddleworth School project back on track; and what can be done to ensure that the Crompton House expansion means first and foremost more places for local children?

Government Inaction on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals ‘a Blow’

The Oldham Liberal Democrat Group has hit out at Government inaction over reducing the maximum possible stake on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals to £2 per play.  Despite promises to introduce the changes as soon as possible, the government has now put back the changes to 2020.

Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group and Leader of the Opposition, is proposing a motion tonight at week’s full Council meeting calling for more national and local action to tackle problem and underage gambling.

Responding to the disappointing news, Councillor Sykes said: “This is a real blow. Problem gambling is a blight on the lives of the individuals affected, and those of their loved ones.  For many, the problem starts with Fixed Odds Betting Terminals where players got hooked on repeatedly gambling, often large sums, without fully realising the financial trouble that they are stoking up for themselves.”

“Despite promises to tackle this by introducing a maximum £2 stake, this government has kowtowed to the gambling industry and put back the changes to 2020.  We need action on this now, not in two-year’s time!  As Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on the Local Government Association, I shall be adding my voice to those of colleagues in my own party and others that this change is urgently needed.”

Barrier gate at Shore Edge leading to Brushes Clough and Crompton Moor

Apologies for any inconvenience, but the barrier gate at Shore Edge will be closing anytime between 6pm and 7:30pm every evening until further notice.

This is just a temporary measure to help keep Crompton Moor safe from fire.

A lot of people are still going up in the evenings and lighting barbecues, and we hope this act will act as a deterrent whilst the ground is so dry up on the moor.

Please help keep the moorland safe from fire; by not lighting barbecues, campfires, and by taking great care when disposing of cigarette ends.

If anyone sees fire or smoke up on the moor, or anywhere else for that matter, please call the Fire Brigade on 999.   The nearest postcode for reference is OL2 8LS.

Liberal idea to establish NHS 70 Years Ago

On the week of the 70th anniversary of the National Health Service, the Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, asks Oldhamers to recognise that it was first a Liberal idea before it was implemented by the post-war Labour Government.

Councillor Sykes said: “On 5 July 1948, we marked the 70th anniversary of the National Health Service, probably Britain’s best-loved public institution.  Many of us are rightly proud that Britain led the way in establishing a universal, free-at-the-point-of-need health service following the Second World War.  Most of us have had good reason to be grateful that excellent medical care from dedicated staff has been available to us at some point in our lives, maybe even at the very start of our life, paid for through general taxation.  Despite being under threat from Conservative Government austerity cuts, the NHS is still respected and admired the world over as a model of healthcare to aspire to.”

Councillor Sykes added: “Although many admirers may see Aneurin Bevan, Attlee’s Labour Minister of Health, as the architect of the NHS, it was in fact the brainchild of Liberal economist and reformer William Beveridge.  Beveridge was commissioned by Churchill’s war-time Coalition Government to write a report about how the nation should be rebuilt after the tribulations of the Second World War.  In his report, published in 1942, he recommended the establishment of a comprehensive welfare state, including the need to establish a ‘National Health Service’.”

Councillor Sykes concluded: “At the end of the Second World War in Europe, all three major political parties, Conservative, Labour and Liberal, had commitments in their 1945 Election Manifestos to establish an NHS; all three would have done so, it just happened to be Labour that was put into power to do it.  So let us celebrate the 70th anniversary of the NHS with pride whatever our political allegiance, but also remember that it was a Liberal who came up with the idea of the NHS in the first place, and a Liberal who gave the service a name.”

Oldham Countryside Volunteer Rangers – Crompton Moor 1 July

Now that we have qualified for the knock out stages, why not join us on the re-planned task for this Sunday, 1 July 2018, and attend to the pools West of Whitesides, with retrieving old stone from the brook and using new stone tops.

The current weather forecast is surprisingly good again, being ‘sunny intervals and breezy’, likely high / low of 21º/22º and breezy at 7/8mph so bring the sun cream and ensure you have your favourite hot & or cold liquids, the appropriate clothing, footwear and a packed lunch if you are up for the day; however, given the wetness of this event, you may want to bring a change of clothing – the Nissan will be our changing room !

Meantime, if you have any issues that you may wish to discuss prior to Sunday, please do not hesitate to email (on either address) or text / phone me on 07961107860.

Please could you let me know if you intend to join us on the day so that I can make the appropriate plan of work.

I look forward to seeing you in the Crompton Moor Car Park ~ 10.30 on Sunday. Thank you.

Edward John Fulton (aka Ed / Eddie), Countryside Volunteer Ranger, (Mob) 07961 107860 [Calls may be recorded], (Text) 07961 107860, (Fax)  01706 661813, (E)  edward@edwardjohnfulton.uk , (E) edward.fulton@btinternet.uk

Liberal Democrats vow to fight to save Oldham’s Greenbelt from house building threat

The Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council is gearing up for the next round in its fight to save Oldham’s Greenbelt from housing.

In just a few weeks’ time, Labour’s Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham will be publishing his latest proposals for the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (the GMSF) which will identify where he wants housebuilding to take place across Greater Manchester over the next twenty years.

Last year, public opposition, backed by support from Liberal Democrat Councillors across Greater Manchester, forced the new Mayor to withdraw the original proposals to build homes on greenbelt across the county, including many thousands in Shaw, Crompton, Saddleworth, Chadderton and Royton.

The new proposals will be the subject of further public consultation.

Commenting Shaw Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, said: “Last time, the public and Liberal Democrat Councillors gave Labour a bloody nose for its cheek in attempting to concrete over our beautiful green fields and hillsides, creating an unwanted blot on the landscape.”

“The Liberal Democrats recognise that we shall need more homes, including affordable homes for first-time buyers and renters and homes for people living independently with disabilities, but our Greenbelt is irreplaceable so we will continue to oppose any plans to build there when there are unused brownfield sites that can be built on and empty mills which can be converted into residential accommodation.”

“And we also want to see big improvements to our roads, public transport and amenities to cope with the extra demands that more housing will bring.”

Councillor Sykes added: “In March of last year, the Oldham Liberal Democrats brought a motion to full Council demanding we withdraw from the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework and establish our own fifteen year Local Plan identifying our own housing needs and housing sites.  In a typical example of Labour hypocrisy, their Councillors shed crocodile tears over building on the Greenbelt but then opposed our proposals to withdraw from the GMSF plan and draw up our own priorities in consultation with local people by using their majority to amend the motion by removing reference to these demands.”

The Oldham Liberal Democrats wanted to see a Local Plan for the Oldham Borough where new housing development takes place first:

  • on brownfield or derelict sites
  • on sites with existing planning permission for housing
  • by converting long-term empty mills, shops and offices into homes
  • by bringing existing long-term empty homes back into use

The Liberal Democrats also want to see firm commitments made to invest in those areas where new housing is to be built to provide better roads, improvements in public transport, more school places, and increased capacity in local doctors’ and dentists’ surgeries and health centres.

Councillor Sykes said: “In Shaw and Crompton, we already have primary schools which are bursting at the seams and an overburdened and run down health centre; without more investment in our transport infrastructure and better, new public facilities we simply cannot cope with any more people.”

“The Liberal Democrats will be making its position crystal clear in response to the consultation – No building on our Greenbelt – and I would urge those residents who share our concerns to also respond with their comments before the deadline to the consultation. More information about the GMSF can be found at the website https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/GMSF and residents can also register to receive updates by email.  Let’s work together to save our precious Greenbelt.”

Crompton Moor Sunday 27 May 10:30am fencing repair with the volunteer rangers

Our planned task if you can spare your valuable time for this Sunday, 27 May 2018, is to repair fencing at the mast, or thereabouts, to prevent motor cycles entering the moor.

The current weather forecast is surprisingly good, being ‘sunny intervals and breezy’, likely high / low of 21º/11º and breezy at 11mph so bring the sun cream and ensure you have your favourite hot & or cold liquids, the appropriate clothing, footwear and a packed lunch if you are up for the day; however, you know being in the open at the mast the weather can change without any warning.

Meantime, if you have any issues that you may wish to discuss prior to Sunday, please do not hesitate to email (on either address) or text / phone me on 07961107860. Given the logistics of this task, and the tools / materials required,  please could you let me know if you intend to join us on the day.

I look forward to seeing you in the Crompton Moor Car Park ~ 10.30 on Sunday. Thank you.  Kindest Regards

Edward John Fulton (aka Ed / Eddie), Countryside Volunteer Ranger, (Mob) 07961 107860 [Calls may be recorded], (Text) 07961 107860, (Fax)  01706 661813, (E)  edward@edwardjohnfulton.uk, (E) edward.fulton@btinternet.uk