Don’t Persecute Honest Passengers, Prosecute Fare-dodgers, says Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader

The Oldham Liberal Democrats have been shocked by recent revelations from Labour-controlled Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) that an estimated one in eight Metrolink passengers are fare-dodgers.  Responding to a question from Bury Liberal Democrat Councillor Tim Pickstone TfGM bosses conceded that 12% of all journeys are not paid for.

The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, who also serves as a representative of Oldham Council on the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee, stated:

“The Oldham Liberal Democrats are flatly opposed to Labour plans (supported by the Conservatives) to put up fares for honest Metrolink passengers by an inflation-busting 19% by 2020 when one in eight passengers travel free.”

“Labour goes on constantly about austerity and workers having to tighten their belts when at the same time the Labour-controlled Transport for Greater Manchester is hitting these very workers in the pocket by increasing Metrolink fares by such an astronomical amount.  This will send out all of the wrong signals.  Commuters will be put off using the tram and if they do they may be more inclined not to get a ticket.”

“There are 40 million tram journeys a year so fare-dodging is estimated to cost Metrolink about £9 million in lost revenue a year.  Rather than hammering the honest passenger, transport bosses need to focus on tackling fare evasion.  12% non-payment is a disgrace.  Everyone should pay their ‘fare share’, so we say tackle the fare-dodgers.  We need more enforcement officers on the line at more times and we need to ruthlessly prosecute non-payers.”

408 bus service protected with minor routing changes

As people are aware this is a subsidised service that is important to many local residents.

This change will take effect from 28 January 2018.

The current contract for this service expires in January 2018 and has been reviewed to ensure the continued best use of TfGM funds and to ensure a service continues.

To ensure best value for money is achieved and to maintain an hourly service, the route of the Monday to Saturday day-time service will revert to that prior to September 2016, operating as a clockwise loop via Wren’s Nest, Buckstones and Shaw Metrolink Stop.

Although the bus will show Shaw, Wren’s Nest as the destination, the majority of passengers wishing to travel to Buckstones or Shaw Metrolink Stop will be able to remain on the bus at Wren’s Nest (there will be a 2 min layover), and continue on the return journey via Buckstones to reach their destination.

Passengers wishing to travel from Shaw Metrolink Stop or Buckstones towards Wren’s Nest will be able to use service 435 which continues to serve this section of route in both directions.

New rout map follow the link: Proposed service 408 route map

New timetable below:

The evening and Sunday journeys which continue from Oldham to Stalybridge will continue to follow the existing route.

My two allowed questions at tonight’s (13 Dec) Oldham Council meeting – Oldham’s Town Centre Challenge Candidate and Big Change

Council 13 December 2017 Leader’s Question 1

Oldham’s Town Centre Challenge Candidate

Mr Mayor for my first question tonight I would like to refer the Leader to an initiative launched in connection with the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) by the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham on the 17th of last month.

Mayor Burnham announced that he wanted to move away from the “developer-led, green belt approach of the past”.

This is an announcement that both I and my ward colleagues in Shaw and Crompton, as well as thousands of our constituents, will welcome, as in the original GMSF proposals Shaw and Crompton stood to be swamped by almost 3,000 new homes, other tracts of land were designated for industrial development, and our green belt and green spaces would be decimated.

After his election, the Oldham Liberal Democrats wrote to Andy Burnham to ask for the (and I quote) “opportunity to work with you to establish a revised plan that is acceptable to local ward members and our constituents, which mirrors our aspirations for housing and economic development in Greater Manchester.”

It has always been our view that there is no justification for the construction of a large number of properties (or indeed any properties) on Green Belt or Other Protected Open Land (OPOL) before new homes are first built on Brownfield sites, on sites where planning permission for housing development has already been granted and upon the many derelict and the unloved sites in our town centres and districts.

We also believe that every empty mill and factory should be converted and used for housing and that the large number of empty homes across Greater Manchester should be brought back into use.

Mayor Burnham has now invited all ten Leaders of the Greater Manchester authorities to nominate a town for inclusion in his Town Centre Challenge.

The Mayor is proposing to work with each council to bring together housing providers, public and private landowners, developers, community groups and other key stakeholders in a concerted effort to unlock the potential in these town centres, particularly to deliver “viable housing markets and sustainable communities.”

At his launch event, Mayor Burnham promised to use new planning powers and Mayoral grants “to build a new future for those towns through higher density mixed and affordable housing, with local retail and leisure facilities and supported by transport and digital connectivity.”

This sounds like potentially heady stuff, for we are not ‘Luddites’, Mr Mayor, we recognise we need to release more land for more homes for more people.

What we do not believe in is concreting over the green bits!

His plan appears to hold that promise – with an emphasis seemingly placed upon Brownfield development in towns, rather than the ‘death of the Green Belt by concrete’ approach we saw previously.

Mayor Burnham has asked Oldham to bring forward a town centre of its choice to be his development partner so Mr Mayor I would like to ask the Leader tonight whether Oldham will be nominating a town or district for the Town Centre Challenge?

If we will do make a nomination how elected members and the public can become involved in the selection?

Will we have a say on the selection and when do we have to make our nomination by?

Council 13 December 2017 Leader’s Question 2

Big Change

 Mr Mayor, I would now like to return to another very important issue that has again been raised in recent motions proposed by both sides in this chamber recently – the desperate plight of the homeless.

It is an issue that is particularly topical and poignant at this time of the year with the onset of winter.

Mr Mayor, I would like to make a practical suggestion that I feel could make big difference in this Borough.

I am referring to the Big Change scheme, a charitable programme that operates in Rochdale, Manchester, Bradford and Leeds where donors are asked to make donations to a central fund which is used to help all homeless people rather than putting money in a hat or cup on the street.

Evidence suggests that unfortunately some on-the-street donations to people who are begging helps fund drug and alcohol dependency, and can discourage them from accessing services that can help them turn their lives around.

The Big Change scheme recognises that people who are homeless often face practical barriers which need to be overcome for them to become active, independent members of their community and avoid sleeping rough.

It provides homeless people with practical items which support a long term change.  This might include paying for a deposit for a home, a training course to help improve job prospects and clothes for a job interview.

Or it could involve furnishing a new flat, including purchasing crockery, pots, pans and bed linen, as well as funding travel costs to their new home.

In the scheme run by our neighbours in Rochdale, the fund is administered by Just Giving and Forever Manchester, and applications for grants are considered by a panel which includes a former rough sleeper and representatives from charities working with the homeless.

I would therefore like to ask the Leader tonight if she will ask the Homelessness Forum to look into the practicalities of bringing Big Change to Oldham?