Crompton Moor Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO)

A formal OMBC consultation on a proposed Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) for Crompton Moor is to start today the 27th February 2017 and will run for 7 days.

The PSPO would help the police and council officers to address certain anti-social behaviour, and has been developed in response to concerns expressed by the public.

The consultation document and boundary map is available at Crompton Library, Farrow Street, Shaw, and is open to anyone who uses Crompton Moor or has an interest in it. A feedback form will be available for anyone to complete and will be available for the next 7 days.

PSPOs are intended to deal with nuisance or problems that are detrimental to the local community’s quality of life, by imposing conditions on the use of that area.

Myself and others have been trying to progress this for some time as with a PSPO some of the anti social activities that happen on the Moor from time to time will be able to be dealt with more effectively.

If you use/value the Moor, Brushes Clough and surrounding area please have your say.

Liberal Democrats call for Oldham Council to fix the roads, spend more on reducing flooding and keep the streets cleaner

Copy of the budget amendment: Liberal Democrat Opposition Budget Proposals 1 March 2017

The Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council will propose that in this year’s budget more money is invested on highway and environmental improvements to make the Borough’s streets safer and cleaner.

The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group, Cllr Howard Sykes MBE, said: “I would like to thank Council officers and my colleagues Councillors John McCann and Diane Williamson for their invaluable support in putting together these proposals.”

“The Liberal Democrat Group recognises that once again this year the Labour Administration has been forced to cut spending and services as the grant from central government has once more been squeezed; and the situation will not improve whilst the Conservatives remain in office.”

“Local government continues to be one of the biggest victims of this Government’s austerity strategy and things will only get worse; by 2021 Oldham will lose its entire central Government grant.”

Labour has again proposed that Council Tax bills rise by 2% to pay for improvements to adult social care and a further 1.99% for other services.

Cllr Sykes commented: “The Liberal Democrats will once again support this rise as it will at least raise some more money for services; but we also think it is important to focus every penny that we have on core services.  As well as revenue-raising, our strategy is to continue to identify savings in back-office bureaucracy and waste to free up money to support the services that are most valued by our ratepayers.”

This year, once more the Liberal Democrats are proposing measures that will generate more than £730,000 in savings each year – from reducing publications, printing and advertising, to tackling absenteeism; and reducing expenditure on employing agency staff and reducing the size of the communications/policy team.  The cash saved will be spent on better roads, cleaner streets and more youth outreach provision.

Cllr Sykes said: “We recognise that this is only a relatively small amount compared to the many millions that this Council has been forced to save, but this modest amount could nonetheless be a game-changer – it would provide us with the revenue we need to borrow more than £5 million to invest in our key highways, with enough left over to radically improve our gully-cleaning service, restore a free Bulky Bobs waste collection service and pay for more youth outreach provision to engage with young people in our communities.”

The Liberal Democrats are calling for over £470,000 from the additional savings that they have identified to go to:

  • Fund a £5 million investment programme to tackle the repairs backlog on the borough’s main and secondary highways
  • Employ four more staff and an extra vehicle on gully-cleaning across the borough
  • Restore the free Bulky Bobs bulk waste collection service to the public
  • Increasing the provision for youth outreach workers

Cllr Sykes explained why the Liberal Democrat Group wanted once again, to focus on investing in highway improvements and tackling blocked gullies and fly-tipping across the Borough:

“There is a backlog amounting to over £5 million in road repairs to our Borough’s main and secondary highways.  Our highways improvement programme will make our key roads safer and smoother for drivers and their passengers and our Borough a more attractive one to travel in.”

“An extra gully cleaning team and vehicle will mean we can free up more of the many gullies that are currently clogged with soil.  When a gully is blocked water does not run away and the road can become slippery for drivers, especially when the water turns to ice.  Local properties can also be flooded.  Blocked gullies have to be dug out by hand, which is a slow and labour-intensive process that is costly.  This timely investment on gully-cleaning represents good sense”.

“We also full support returning Bulky Bobs to a free service.  Time and again we read reports in the local press or hear from our constituents about furniture and other bulky household detritus being dumped in our streets.  This is also a complaint made by several Labour Councillors in full Council over the past twelve months.”

“Poorer people are unable to afford to pay for a collection service and irresponsible people do not want to.  Making Bulky Bobs free again would mean that no one has any excuse for dumping these unwanted goods.”

Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) Training – IAPT Plus (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies – OLDHAM)

Need to know more about Mental Health Services in Oldham but feel a bit dazzled by all the plethora of information out there?

Tameside, Oldham and Glossop Mind are delivering a 30 minute briefing session to provide a solid overview of the mental health offer in Oldham.

5.30pm on 14th March 2017, Royton Town Hall.

 Additionally, it will provide specific information about what Tameside, Oldham and Glossop Mind provide locally.

Including 1-1 guided support, Active Monitoring Sessions, Drop In Sessions and general mental health triage opportunities.

This training is provided for free as it’s commissioned by Oldham Clinical Commissioning Group.

To book a place, please contact Linda Cain on 0161 770 3850 linda.cain@oldham.gov.uk

Shaw ASDA proposal for a petrol filling station

1_for_web_caseStudy

Draft plan: asda-draft-pfs-proposal

Dear Neighbour,

Asda Shaw, proposals for a new petrol filling station (PFS)

I am writing regarding Asda’s proposals for a new 4 pump (8 position) PFS at the Shaw Supercentre on Greenfield Lane.

We are committed to keeping the stores neighbours informed as the proposals progress.  We will be holding two drop-in sessions at the store:

  • 5:30pm – 7:30pm on Thursday 23rd February for the stores immediate neighbours
  • 10am – 2pm on Friday 24th February for the wider community

These sessions are not formal public meetings, so please visit at a time that is convenient to you.  If visiting on Thursday 23rd, please ask an Asda Colleague at the Customer Services desk to direct you to the display.

Representatives from Asda will be present to explain more about the proposals and answer questions.  There will also be an opportunity to give feedback on the plans directly to local councillors on Thursday 23rd February from 5:30pm to 7pm.  No planning application has been submitted to Oldham Borough Council and these discussions form part of the pre-application consultation with the local community.

In these times of rising costs, only ASDA is committed to a national price cap on fuel, which, as noted by the Office of Fair Trading in its 2013 report, drives down local prices by up to 8p a litre, to the benefit of local families.  This, alongside our everyday low in-store prices, can make a real difference for local people.

If you would like to know more about the proposals, please contact Andrew Lester of HardHat. who are coordinating the sessions on: 0800 170 7270 or email alester@hardhat.co.uk

Yours faithfully,

Alan Jones

Senior Property Communciations Manager

Linney Lane and Scarr Lane resurfacing starts 13 Feb and 20 Feb 2017

Linney Lane

I wanted to inform you of the latest information I have received from the Council regarding the road surface of both Linney Lane and Scarr Lane.

A number of you have been in contact with me regarding the pot holes and the general condition of the road surfaces on Linney Lane and Scarr Lane over the last couple of years or so.

As some of you will already be aware, my colleagues Rod Blyth, Chris Gloster and I, have been trying to get some action to remedy the poor quality of the road surfaces.  I have sent numerous communications to the Highways Department along with attending a significant number of meetings to try and progress this matter.

I can confirm that the work will definitely be going ahead.  Since receiving confirmation of the work I have been pursuing the Highways Department for a start date and this is the most up to date information I have received.

Highways have informed me they are planning this work on the following dates: Monday 13th February 2017 (Scarr Lane) 1 week, and 20th February 2017 (Linney Lane) for 2 weeks.

Please note that these dates are not set in stone as yet; these are the proposed dates which have been put into the tender documents to the contractors, so assuming they have availability on these dates, the work will hopefully start around the dates specified above to fit in with School Holidays.  If these dates change I will do my best to inform you of the new ones.

Lib Dems Call for Investment in Better Roads and Cleaner Streets

BB4599-001-477416

The Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council will propose that in this year’s budget more money is invested on highway and environmental improvements to make the borough’s streets safer and cleaner.

The Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Cllr John McCann, said:

“I would like to thank Council officers and my colleague Councillor Diane Williamson for their invaluable support in putting together these proposals.”

“The Liberal Democrat Group recognises that once again this year the Labour Administration has been forced to cut spending and services as the grant from central government has once more been squeezed, and the situation will not improve whilst the Conservatives remain in office. Local government continues to be one of the biggest victims of this Government’s austerity strategy and things will only get worse; by 2021 Oldham will lose all of it’s central Government grant.”

Labour has again proposed that Council Tax bills rise by 2% to pay for improvements to adult social care and a further 1.99% for other services.

Cllr McCann commented: “The Liberal Democrats will once again support this rise as it will at least raise some more money for services, but we also think it is important to focus every penny that we have on core services. As well as revenue-raising, our strategy is to continue to identify savings in back-office bureaucracy and waste to free up money to support the services that are most valued by our ratepayers.”

This year, once more the Liberal Democrats are proposing measures that will generate almost £675,000 in savings each year – from reducing publications, printing and advertising, to tackling absenteeism and reducing expenditure on employing agency staff. This is money that they want to spend on better roads, cleaner streets and more youth outreach provision.

Cllr McCann said: “We recognise that this is only a relatively small amount compared to the many millions that this Council has been forced to save, but this modest amount could nonetheless be a game-changer – it would provide us with the revenue we need to borrow over £5 million to invest in our key highways, with enough left over to radically improve our gully-cleaning service, restore a free Bulky Bobs waste collection service and pay for more youth outreach provision to engage with young people in our communities.”

The Liberal Democrats are calling for over £460,000 from the additional savings that they have identified to go to:

  • Fund a £5.5 million investment programme to tackle the repairs backlog on the borough’s main and secondary highways
  • Employ four more staff and an extra vehicle on gully-cleaning across the borough
  • Restore the free Bulky Bob bulk waste collection service to the public
  • Increasing the provision for youth outreach workers

Councillor Sykes says City move such a Waste

recycle-for-greater-manchester

An agreement by Councillors on the Labour-controlled Greater Manchester Combined Authority that staff from the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA) office be relocated from Oldham to Manchester City Centre has been branded ‘a waste of public money and bad news for Oldham’, by the Leader of the Opposition, Liberal Democrat Councillor Howard Sykes MBE.

Greater Manchester Waste Authority staff will be moved from Metropolitan House in Oldham Town Centre to Churchgate House in Manchester City Centre.

Councillor Sykes said: “Financially this is madness.  Rental costs at Metropolitan House are £5 per square foot and those at Churchgate House are £16.50 so just to provide accommodation to these staff will cost over three times what it does in Oldham, and that does not include the actual cost of the move itself and other costs.”

Cllr Sykes has other more fundamental objections to the move in addition to just cost.

“In recent years Inland Revenue and Court Service staff have moved away from Oldham.  The Council rightly objected.  Now we are doing exactly the same when it is in our control and we will lose out yet again when the staff of the Waste Authority move out of Town.  Some 10 – 20 high quality jobs have been exported from Oldham to Manchester.  They will now be spending their earnings in Manchester’s economy, and not ours in the near future.”

“Devolution should not only be about devolving power, services and money from Whitehall to Greater Manchester (GM); it should also be about divesting services out from Manchester City Centre to the other Boroughs in GM.”

“One of my worries has always been that Manchester will seek to control and centralise everything and as a result keep most of the benefits that devolution brings.”

“We want our share too and this should include retaining our fair share of public sector jobs.  In fact some of those GM Combined Authority jobs based in Manchester City Centre should be moved out into places like Oldham, Rochdale and Ashton.  That would save money in operating costs and give a real boost to the regeneration of those local economies.”

“The Waste Authority team have done a good job working from their desks in Oldham – I see no reason why they should not continue to do so.”

“What has been agreed makes no financial sense and certainly makes no sense to Oldham and I fail to understand why Labour have agreed to it!”