Cannes you believe it?  £10,000 would be better spent fixing our crumbling roads or providing care for our vulnerable children or elderly citizens rather than on French Seaside Spree, says Liberal Democrat Leader

The Leader of the Opposition and Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes, MBE, has questioned the value of Oldham Council spending more than £10,000 + VAT to send two Council officers to the French Riviera resort of Cannes at a time when Council services have been cut to the bone.

The two officers were representing Oldham Council at the three day Marché International des Professionnels d’Immobilier (MIPIM) property conference earlier this month.  Oldham Council was one of at least nine around the UK that the national press reported were sending representatives at public expense.

Commenting Councillor Sykes stated:  “The attendance by these Council officers at this conference at this time; at such expense sends; out all of the totally wrong signals when the Council is cutting services to the bone or just stopping them because of swingeing cuts in central government funding.”

He added:  “I am not suggesting that this simply amounted to three days of sunshine and champagne.  I am sure these officers were also meeting with potential investors in Oldham, but many residents in our Borough; who are struggling to pay their Council Tax bills; will rightly ask why this money could not have been spent on fixing potholes on our crumbling roads or providing care for our vulnerable children or elderly citizens rather than on jet travel and hotel bills for staff going to the French Riviera.”

Councillor Sykes is also still investigating whether this £10,000 bill represents the full cost to the Council, and he has an outstanding enquiry with officers in the Chief Executive’s team.

Vulnerable Adult Missing Persons Profile

This form is itended to assist care workers, partner agencies and the police if the person it refers to goes missing.

Please fill in these sections and keep it in a safe place. If possible please complete the electronic version of the form which is available to download from the GMP website.

Please keep the form in a safe place where it can easily be found. It will need to be located quickly at any time of the day, to begin the initial searches.

It would be helpful to make several copies that can be left with care workers, neighbours or relatives. Should the person relocate the form will need to go with them and be updated accordingly.

When completed the form will contain personal information and must be stored safely in accordance with data protection. However if the person goes missing sharing the information on the form with GMP in order to protect and safeguard the person will become necessary and justified.

For more information please visit the website.

www.gmp.police.uk/Herbert

Down load a form and complete it today: Herbert Form Word

OCS Volunteer Ranger Event Sunday 25 March 2018

Our next planned task if you can spare your valuable time is this Sunday, 25 March 2018, and is carrying out arboriculture tasks i.e. the management of the felled tree(s) at the Bowling Green, and in Great Meadow / Black Hey forests; we have three bowsaws, one wood saw and three loppers, so pending the numbers that take part it may prove to be handy on a just in case basis to bring what tools you have available.

The current weather forecast doesn’t look too bad at the moment, being ‘light rain and breezy’, likely high / low of 9º/3º and breezy at 10/11mph so please ensure you wrap up well, have your favourite hot liquids, the appropriate clothing, footwear and a packed lunch if you are up for the day; however, being in the forests should help.

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.

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].   (E)  edward@edwardjohnfulton.uk.  (E) edward.fulton@btinternet.uk

Oldham Liberal Democrats call for Ban on New Hot Food Takeaways near Schools to help curb Childhood Obesity

Crompton Liberal Democrat Councillor Diane Williamson will be proposing a motion to the next full meeting of Oldham Council (Wednesday 28 March) calling for Oldham Council to prohibit new hot food takeaways within 400 metres of schools and is appealing to the Borough’s schools to apply a ‘stay-on-site’ policy at lunchtimes and ban takeaway deliveries to school gates.

In October 2017, the medical journal, The Lancet, reported that one in every ten young people, aged 5 to 19, in the UK was classed as obese. In Oldham, the situation is even worse. The Public Health England profile for the Borough, published July 2017, reported that one in five, 21.9%, of children at Year 6 were classed as obese.

Commenting, Councillor Williamson said: “Childhood obesity has risen to epic proportions and, if it is not addressed, it will mean future generations will be faced with massive health problems. Obesity into adulthood leads to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, strokes and certain cancers. The national picture is bad, but the Oldham one is worse; the Government needs to take urgent action, but as a Council we also need to take action as well.”

“Takeaway food is usually junk food; it may often be tasty but it is also unhealthy. It piles on the calories and is a major contributor to childhood obesity. The Oldham Liberal Democrats are therefore suggesting that the Council looks at imposing a ban on granting planning permission to any new takeaways within 400 metres of a school. At least twenty two other Councils have done the same.”

The motion is being seconded by fellow Liberal Democrat Crompton Councillor Julia Turner: “Deliveries on takeaway foods to schools are also an unacknowledged problem. In June 2016, the Royal Society for Public Health called for a ban on these deliveries after it found in a survey with young people that half had ordered fast food on their smartphone and a quarter had paid for these deliveries at the school gates.”

“The School Meals Service in Oldham is outstanding and produces delicious and nutritious meals every day that I hope every child would want to eat. The Oldham Liberal Democrats are calling upon every one of our Borough’s schools to help us combat child obesity by banning school gate deliveries and by enforcing a ‘stay-on-site’ policy on pupils at lunchtimes.”

Council 28 March 2018 – Notice of Opposition Business – Motion 3 – Restricting New Hot Food Takeaways near Schools

 This Council notes that:

  • Childhood obesity has risen to epic proportions. In October 2017, the medical journal, The Lancet, reported one in every ten young people, aged 5 to 19, in the UK are classed as obese;
  • In Oldham, sadly the situation is even worse. The Public Health England profile for the Borough, published July 2017, reported that 21.9% of children at Year 6 (660 in total) were classed as obese;
  • Obese children are more likely to become obese adults, putting them at risk of developing serious health conditions (such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain types of cancer);
  • Takeaway food, where it is unhealthy, so called junk food, is undoubtedly a contributing factor in the increase;
  • Although the Oldham School Meals Service is a Gold standard provider, regrettably some pupils chose to eat at or from takeaways;
  • In June 2016, The Royal Society for Public Health called for a ban on the delivery of takeaway meals to school gates. A survey conducted by the RSPH amongst young people  found half had ordered takeaways on their smart phones and a quarter had paid for fast food to be delivered to the school gates;
  • At least 22 local authorities have adopted Supplementary Planning Documents and Local Plans that include a prohibition on new fast food takeaways within 400 metres of local schools (a buffer zone);
  • In July 2012, Oldham Council adopted a Supplementary Planning Document which placed restrictions on the density of hot food takeaways, but which did not include any restriction on new takeaways within a specified buffer zone;

Council resolves to ask the Planning Committee to investigate the desirability and practicality of:

  • Introducing a prohibition on new takeaways within a 400 metre buffer zone as part of the Local Plan;

Council shall also contact all schools within the Borough to seek reassurances they:

  • Enforce a ‘stay on-site’ policy at lunchtimes;
  • Ban the delivery of takeaways to the school gates for collection by pupils;

And to ask them to do so; if they do not.

Tax Land to Pay for Council Services, say Oldham Liberal Democrats

The Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Saddleworth South Councillor John McCann, will be proposing at the next full meeting of Oldham Council (Wednesday 28 March) that the Council back calls for the introduction of Land Value Taxation to help pay for public services.

Councillor McCann said: “Land Value Taxes work successfully in over 30 countries across the world.  Landowners are charged an amount every year based upon the rental value of their land.  This amount is based upon the unimproved value of the land, in other words the amount is not increased if the land is developed upon with buildings or other infrastructure.  Two advantages to a Land Value Tax is that it is very cheap to collect and very difficult to evade.”

“Land Value Taxes can be revenue-neutral, by this we mean that they could replace other local taxation raised through the Council Tax and Business Rates,” stated Councillor McCann.  “This would reduce the financial burden placed upon our residents, particularly our lower-income households, and our small businesses in paying for Council services.”

Shaw Liberal Democrat Councillor Chris Gloster is seconding the motion. Commenting he said: “A Land Value Tax also has other benefits.  It would discourage land-banking, where owners simply hold onto vacant land in the hope that they can make more profit in the future if its value rises, and instead encourages them to develop them with homes or businesses more quickly, once planning permission is granted, to generate an income to help pay the charge.  This would provide more homes and jobs for people in our Borough, and, as many of these homes would be on brown-field sites, it will give us a greater chance to spare more of our precious and irreplaceable Green Belt from unwanted development.”

Council 28 March 2018 – Notice of Opposition Business –

Motion 2 – Land Value Taxation

This Council believes that Land Value Taxation (LVT) offers a credible means for local authorities to raise public revenue to fund local public services by making an annual charge upon landowners, based on the rental value of their land. This is typically levied against the unimproved value of that land, not taking into account any buildings, services or on-site infrastructure.

Council notes that:

  • LVT could be revenue-neutral; that is the revenue raised could replace taxation levied through Council Tax and Business Rates. This would lift some of the burden of meeting the cost of Council services from our Borough’s low-income households and small businesses;
  • LVT would encourage owners of vacant sites, particularly brown-field sites, to develop them for business or residential use more quickly, where planning permission has been granted, so as to generate an income rather than paying an annual charge on the unused land;
  • This would discourage developers from land-banking and lead to more house building and the creation of more businesses and jobs, meaning a more vibrant Borough and less pressure to build new homes on our irreplaceable green belt;
  • LVT is cheap to collect and very difficult to evade.

Council further notes that:

  • Some form of LVT is already successfully in operation in over 30 countries (including Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and several US states);
  • The International Monetary Fund, the Institute of Economic Affairs and the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development have all come out in favour of the tax;
  • A Private Members Bill was introduced in Parliament by Caroline Lucas MP supporting LVT, and the proposal has cross-party support in principle;
  • The Scottish and Welsh Governments are currently investigating the options for implementing such a tax;
  • The Parliamentary Communities and Local Government Committee have just conducted an enquiry into the efficacy of various taxation methods to ‘capture’ increases in land value;
  • The Government has appointed a panel of experts, chaired by Sir Oliver Letwin, charged with carrying out a review to ‘explain the gap between the number of planning permissions being granted (for houses) against those built in areas of high-demand.’

Liberal Democrats call for Oldham to become a Plastic-Free Borough

Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet Member for Housing, Transport and Planning Councillor Dave Murphy will be proposing a motion at the next full meeting of Oldham Council (Wednesday 28 March) calling for Oldham to become a single use plastic-free Borough.

Councillor Murphy said: “300 million tons of new plastic is made across the world every year, around half of this is turned into billions of items, such as drinking straws, cups and utensils that are used once and discarded.  Much of this waste goes to landfill, more sadly still some of it ends up in our oceans.”

“I think all of us will have been shocked by the recent images on our televisions and on social media of the world’s oceans being smothered by discarded plastic and sea birds and mammals choking on this detritus,” added Councillor Murphy.

“In 2016, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimated that by weight there could be more plastic in our oceans than fish.  Columbia University has estimated that these plastics stay in our environment for up to 600 million years.  Imagine that an item you might use for six minutes polluting our environment for six hundred million years.  And it doesn’t lie dormant – plastic contaminates the food chain.  Plastic is consumed by fish and fish is consumed by us,” he stated.

“As human beings, let us use our supposedly higher intelligence to take collective responsibility for the stewardship of this planet and the plants and animals which inhabit it.  The Liberal Democrats believe passionately that one single thing that we can all do as part of this shared responsibility is to choose not to use and discard single-use plastic items, such as plastic drinking straws or picnic utensils, in our daily lives,” claimed Councillor Murphy.

The motion is being seconded by Liberal Democrat Councillor Garth Harkness.  He commented:

“I am proud that the Oldham Liberal Democrats are sponsoring this motion.  We have a long track record of championing many environmental concerns in the Council Chamber, including calling for the establishment of tree wardens and a woodland strategy, seeking protection for bees and pollinators, and calling for an end to the use of non-recyclable coffee cups.”

“Many other local authorities have chosen to ban the use of single-use plastic items in their workplaces and public buildings; the Liberal Democrats want Oldham Council to be part of that pack,” stated Councillor Harkness.  “If in adopting this policy, we can influence our social and business partners and the citizens of this Borough to also say No to single-use plastic then together we can make Oldham a single-use plastic free Borough by the end of the year.”

The Motion reads as follows:

Motion 1 – Making Oldham a ‘Single Use Plastic-Free’ Local Authority

Council notes that:

  • The introduction of the 5p bag charge has already seen use of single-use plastic bags drop by 85%.
  • However, most families still throw away about 40kg of plastic per year, which could otherwise be recycled.
  • The amount of plastic waste generated annually in the UK is estimated to be nearly 5 million tonnes, which has a catastrophic effect on our environment, particularly our marine environment

Council welcomes the commitment of some major businesses to reduce their use of plastic packaging and encourages all local businesses to respond positively to the

Government’s recent call for evidence on reducing plastic waste.

However, Council recognises that it is only in eliminating single-use plastic materials that we can achieve a significant reduction in plastic waste.

Council therefore resolves to ask the Cabinet to:

  • Develop a robust strategy to make Oldham a ‘single-use plastic-free’ authority by the end of 2018 and encourage the Borough’s institutions, businesses and citizens to adopt similar measures;
  • End the sale and provision of single use plastic products such as bottles, cups, cutlery and drinking straws in council buildings, or council supported venues, wherever possible; promoting the use of non-plastic recyclable alternatives e.g. paper straws to ensure our venues remain accessible to those with additional needs.
  • Encourage traders across the Borough to sell re-usable containers and invite customers to bring their own.
  • Consider the merits and practicalities of introducing a ‘window sticker’ scheme to accredit local businesses that are committed to reducing plastic waste through, for example, offering free water bottle refills.
  • Investigate the possibility of requiring pop-up food and drink vendors at council supported events to avoid single use plastics as a condition of their contract; with a view to phasing out all single use plastics at markets and events in the Borough by the end of 2018.
  • Work with tenants in commercial properties owned by Oldham Council to encourage them to phase out single use plastic cups, bottles, cutlery and straws.

Friday 2 March suspended bin collection – latest

People who were due a grey bin collection today take your grey bins in and put back out on Monday.

High Crompton/Shaw who were due a blue bin collection the message is bring blue bins in altogether and the Council will take extra paper and card on next collection.

Green bins will be empted on Friday ie 9 March.

https://www.oldham.gov.uk/info/200281/rubbish_and_recycling

Free pre-retirement workshop funded by Ambition for Ageing

If you’re thinking about your next steps and wondering what ‘retirement’ might mean for you this is a fantastic opportunity.  If you live or work in the Alexandra, Crompton or Failsworth West areas of Oldham, come along to this free workshop, run by Kingswood Age Confident, to find out more about your options for ‘retirement’ and later life:

Saturday 24th March, 9am – 1pm, at George Street Chapel, with lunch provided

Booking is essential!  Please contact Martin Morris for more details or to book your place on 0161 339 2345 or email martin.morris@actiontogether.org.uk