‘What did it cost us?’ Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group and Real Opposition on Oldham Council wants an answer to that question in connection with the recent purchase of the Spindles and Town Square Shopping Centres.
Councillor Sykes has submitted a request under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act to Deputy Chief Executive Helen Lockwood and Director of Finance Anne Ryans in order to drill down to the final bill for Oldham’s Council Tax payers.
“Different figures have been bandied about in Council meetings and in media reports. I would like to know what the final bill is, and I am sure that our long-suffering ratepayers want to know too,” said Councillor Sykes. “The final bill is not just the agreed purchase price but also the professional fees and any taxes associated with the purchase, and in addition the costs incurred in subsequently buying out the Top Man lease”.
“I hope that the response to my FOI request will bring clarity. In the interests of public accountability, it is important that with any large-ticket item the final cost to ratepayers is made public.”
The FOI request sent 28 June reads:
Helen Lockwood, Deputy Chief Executive; Cc Anne Ryans, Director of Finance
Dear Ms Lockwood,
Under the Freedom of Information Act, I would like to request confirmation of the total cost to Oldham Council of acquiring the Spindles and Town Square Shopping Centres.
In calculating the total cost, I wish you to include the purchase price agreed with the vendor, the legal and other professional fees associated with the completion of the purchase, stamp duty or other taxes payable to government in connection with the purchase, and the subsequent costs associated with buying out and processing the purchase of the Top Man lease and any other fees or payments required?
Please can I also ask for confirmation that there are now no outstanding costs for the Council to meet in relation to the purchase of the two shopping centres and the Top Man lease?
And that there are no further leases to acquire in the two premises?
30 new disabled parking spaces to be installed by Council after 3 year wait.
The wait is finally over for 30 fortunate families who will be getting disabled parking spots in the next twelve months, some of whom have been waiting for years.
Officers confirmed the decision this week, after years wrangling over funding, and lengthy delays while new qualifying criteria were eventually produced.
Mark Kenyon, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Grotton, Springhead & Lees, took up the cause after being contacted by a frustrated resident over a year ago and has led a campaign to provide disabled parking bays.
Councillor Kenyon said: “Despite welcoming the decision by this council to provide these 30 spaces, I’m also incensed that there’s at least another 30 families who have missed out. A disabled parking spot is not a perk to be won in a council lottery, it’s a lifeline. Covid has increased isolation across our area, and disabled parking spaces give people the same freedom and choices that many of us take for granted – if we go out of the house, we can get back in again.
“Conservative cuts have forced difficult choices on councils across the land, but how our council can spend millions on a shopping centre but not find it in their heart or their pockets to finance disabled parking spaces for 3 years is beyond me.”
Applicants who have been successful are being notified over the next few weeks.
Councillor Kenyon concluded: “I’m happy for those 30 families who have been successful, but I’ve not forgotten those who have missed out – the fight for fairness goes on.”
The Greater Manchester Pension Fund must divest from fossil fuels, not only to protect the planet, but to protect the pensions of thousands of people across the region. At the next full meeting of Oldham Council (Wednesday 14 July 2021), the Liberal Democrats will propose a motion to deliver exactly that.
Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani, who will be proposing the motion, said: “It is time the Greater Manchester Pension Fund did the right thing by our environment and pulled out the money invested in fossil fuel industries that massively contribute to global warming, and instead reinvest it in green technologies which do good.”
The Fund is currently one of the biggest investors in fossil fuels with over £1.7 billion in the oil, coal and gas industries.
“As an employer, Oldham Council pays into the fund to top up the contributions of our employees, yet we are a Council committed to becoming carbon neutral within five years,” added Councillor Al-Hamdani. “How can we achieve our goal of carbon neutrality when our money continues to bolster a fund that is so invested in industries which contribute to the destruction of our environment and the pollution of our air?”
The motion is being backed by Councillor Louie Hamblett. He explained that divestment is not only ethical, it also makes financial sense.
“To prevent irreversible global warming at least 80% of all proven fossil fuels must remain in the ground and unburnt. This will mean the rapid decline in the operations of fossil fuel companies and a rapid decline in the value of fossil fuel stocks.
“Green investment has become more and more attractive financially, and when the stock market crashed at the start of coronavirus, it was sustainable investments that bounced back first.
“It is surely commonsense to divest now, whilst fossil fuel stocks have value, and reinvest the money in environmentally sustainable businesses. It will preserve the value of the fund, ensure future returns to people across Greater Manchester, and do good by our planet.”
The motion tabled at the Full Council meeting on 14 July 2021 reads
Motion – Pension Fund Divestment from Fossil Fuels
This Council recognises that:
· Burning fossil fuels contributes significantly to global warming, jeopardising the stability of our climate upon which our well-being and economy depend. Such activity also has a negative impact upon air quality and so public health.
· Research demonstrates that 80% or more of the world’s proven fossil fuel reserves will have to remain unburnt if we are to have a reasonable chance of keeping global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, the globally agreed target for climate change mitigation.
· Since 80% of fossil fuels must remain in the ground, the reserves of the fossil fuel industry risk becoming ‘stranded assets’ with little or no value – representing a substantial financial risk for those that invest in them.
· Greater Manchester Pension Fund currently has around £1.7 billion invested in the oil, coal and gas industries. This is environmentally and financially irresponsible.
· To date, over 1,100 institutions representing over $14 trillion in assets have committed to divest from fossil-fuel companies. These include the World Council of Churches, the Irish state, New York City, the British Medical Association and a growing number of UK local authority pension funds.
· As a local authority with a commitment to become carbon-neutral by 2025, it is illogical for Oldham Council to make employer contributions towards a pension fund that is committed to investments in fossil-fuel companies.
Council resolves:
· Not to invest directly in fossil fuel companies.
· To mandate its representative to the Greater Manchester Pension Fund Board to call for the adoption of Responsible Investment policies which:
o Immediately freeze any new investment in the top 200 publicly traded fossil fuel companies;
o By the end of this year, divest from direct ownership of companies involved in coal mining;
o Within two years, divest from direct ownership of all fossil fuel companies, along with any commingled funds that include any fossil fuel public equities and corporate bonds;
o Set out an approach to quantifying and addressing climate change risks affecting all other investments, and
o Focus future investments on areas that minimise climate change risk and, where possible, invest in local climate solutions that will benefit fund members, their families and the wider community.
· To ask the Chief Executive to write to the Leaders and Chief Executives of the other 9 Greater Manchester local authorities outlining this Council’s position and asking for their support.
Proposed by: Seconded by:
Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani Councillor Louie Hamblett
Liberal Democrat councillors are determined to fight to keep control of the Peak District National Park in local hands after rumours of a takeover by Whitehall mandarins.
Councillor Hazel Gloster is bringing a motion to the next meeting of Oldham Council (14 July 2021) calling for the Peak District National Park Authority to be retained, rather than abolished and absorbed into a new National Landscape Authority. This drastic action was recommended two years ago after the Glover Review, and Councillor Gloster has no doubt this will be a retrograde step.
Councillor Gloster outlined her concerns: “At present, our local National Park is managed locally by an authority board with local representatives, including one Councillor from Oldham Council. If the authority is abolished there will be no accountability to local people and local councils, and the park will be one amongst many managed from Whitehall by faceless bureaucrats with no connection to the area.”
The motion is being backed by new Councillor Mark Kenyon who feels strongly that the authority is worth saving. “The Peak District National Park is an amazing natural resource, right on our doorstep. Especially during lockdown, the Park has been a lifeline to many offering tranquility and a breath of fresh air, particularly to the many people in the borough without a back yard or garden”, added Councillor Kenyon. “In the post-Covid world it’s important that we all get a say on how this area is managed and how it can be improved. Without local management, our needs will be drowned out by priorities set in London.”
The Leader of the Oldham Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, wrote in May to the Minister responsible for National Parks, Lord Benyon, outlining his objections to the transfer of power, and the motion asks for the support of neighbouring local authorities covered by the Peak District and Oldham’s three local Members of Parliament in this fight to preserve the Park Authority.
The motion tabled at the next full meeting of Oldham Council (14 July 2021) reads:
Hands off our Peak District National Park
Council notes that:
2021 is the 70th anniversary of the Peak District and other National Parks
Our precious National Parks represent an irreplaceable national natural resource which provide enjoyment, education and employment for countless thousands of people every year and are treasured and loved by millions more.
At present, every National Park is managed by its own LOCAL Park Authority with LOCAL representatives who know and serve the community and keep LOCAL oversight. The Park District National Park Authority includes an appointed representative from Oldham Council.
Council is therefore gravely concerned that the Glover Review of 2019 proposed the replacement of the local National Parks Authorities with a National Landscape Service which would centralise services under one, nationally run, new organisation, and that the Government is giving active consideration to accepting this recommendation.
Council is opposed to the replacement of the locally run National Parks Authorities because:
It is contrary to the Government’s ‘levelling-up’ agenda which involves government decentralising power and working more directly with local partners and communities.
The 2019 Conservative Party Manifesto stated that “the days of Whitehall knows best are over” (p.26) and pledged to give communities of all sizes far more control. This Council questions how a centralist National Landscapes Service would achieve this.
The move is contrary to international good practice in the management of protected landscapes which emphasises the importance of management being undertaken with, and through, local people and mainly for, and by, them.
Locally run and locally managed National Parks consider local circumstances and take account of local feelings and requirements without the burdensome red-tape of national management.
Council therefore resolves to:
Ask the Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State urging them not to replace local National Parks Authorities with a National Landscape Service or to take any step which will remove or degrade their powers
Ask the Chief Executive to send a copy of this letter to the Chair of the Peak District National Park Authority
Ask the Chief Executive to also copy in our three local MPs and the Chief Executives of other local authorities covered by the Peak District National Park asking for their support and/or similar action
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and the Metrolink operator KeolisAmey (KAM), regularly carry out maintenance, repairs and renewal work to track, overhead electric wires and other vital equipment to improve the travelling experience and service to passengers.
Essential track replacement work is due to be carried out on the curved track as the tram leaves the Westwood Metrolink stop close to Winterbottom Street. Initial preparation work will be carried out overnight between midnight and 5:00am from Monday 28 June to Saturday 3 July.
Works will then continue and the Metrolink line will close from after the last tram at 1:00am on Sunday 4 July until the first tram in service at 4:30am on Monday 5 July 2021.
During the works on Sunday 4 July there will be no tram services between Rochdale town centre and the Freehold Metrolink stop. A bus replacement service will be in operation and temporary signage in place to direct passengers.
Due to the proximity of the Metrolink works to the track, overhead electric wires, and the need to use Road Rail Vehicles, 24 hour working will be required throughout this period when trams are not running. This will ensure that site fencing and traffic management can be set up and the repairs completed as quickly as possible to minimise disruption to the local community and travelling passengers.
If you require information regarding the Metrolink works, please contact the Customer Relations team on 0161 244 1000, or emailing customer.relations@tfgm.com. Further travel information can be found on the TfGM website: https://tfgm.com/metrolink-improvement-works.
The Oldham Liberal Democrats are proposing the Council gets ready to tackle nuisance pavement parking by preparing now for future legislation.
A motion has been tabled by Lib Dem councillors Dave Murphy and Chris Gloster for consideration at the next full meeting of Oldham Council (14 July 2021).
The Department of Transport carried out a consultation about pavement parking that ended in November last year. It is expected that the government will soon give local councils new powers to tackle problem parking, and the Liberal Democrats want to be ready.
Councillor Dave Murphy explained: “The government consulted about a range of ‘options for change’ in the way that pavement parking is regulated. We made clear in our response that we opposed a blanket ban on all pavement parking as this is simply not fair and realistic in a borough where so many of our motorists live in terraced houses on narrow streets. It would also be very time consuming and expensive for the local authority to enforce.”
“Instead we want to see specific enforcement powers granted to local Councils to enable them to deal more effectively with pavement parking when it becomes a real nuisance to pedestrians, particularly residents with sight loss, other disabilities or infirmities, or using pushchairs. We are keen to see the outcome of the consultation as soon as possible, as it now overdue.”
To make ready for any new legislation, the Liberal Democrat motion calls for all councillors to become involved in a survey to identify problem parking spots in their ward and for officers to identify a new strategy to tackle the nuisance.
Councillor Chris Gloster, a retired traffic police officer, said: “We want all ward councillors to be consulted in order to create a boroughwide map of troublesome pavement parking spots in advance of new legislation. This is a common-sense proposal that draws on the local knowledge of our ward members as local leaders, gained as a result of information from their constituents.”
“We also want officers to prepare a report to a future council meeting outlining what steps they propose to take to tackle this issue when new enforcement measures become available. This will mean we can hit the ground running as soon as the law allows.”
The motion tabled at the next full meeting of Oldham Council, 14 July 2021, reads:
Motion – Pavement Parking: Options for Change
This Council notes that:
Pavement parking can pose a hazard to pedestrians, especially people with sight loss, parents with pushchairs, wheelchair users and other disabled people.
People with sight loss are especially at risk as they can be forced into the road and faced with oncoming traffic that they cannot see.
Pavements are not designed to take the weight of vehicles and so surfaces can become damaged or subside, presenting a further hazard for pedestrians, particularly those with disabilities.
Action to tackle pavement parking in this Borough is currently problematic because:
The current legislation on nuisance pavement parking is confusing.
The legal remedies available to tackle nuisance pavement parking are unsatisfactory.
Greater Manchester Police has previously refused a Council request for assistance with enforcement.
Council:
Awaits with interest the Government’s promised response to the public submissions made to the Department of Transport’s ‘Pavement Parking: Options for Change’ consultation, but regrets that this response, promised by 31 March, is now over three months late.
Anticipates that the outcome of the consultation will be for government to grant new powers to local authorities to address nuisance pavement parking, rather than imposing an unnecessary blanket ban that will be onerous on residents and costly and difficult for local authorities to enforce.
Council resolves to:
Ask the Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State for Transport requesting that the Government’s response to the consultation now be published as promised.
Ask the relevant Executive Director to conduct a survey amongst the elected members of this Council asking members to identify streets within their ward where nuisance pavement parking occurs.
Ask the relevant Cabinet Member to bring to a future meeting of this Council a report with the findings of this survey and details of the enforcement action that this Council proposes to take, taking account of any new powers the Government promises to make available to local authorities in their published response to the consultation.
The addition of £25 million from the Home Office into the Safer Streets fund is an opportunity for Oldham to improve its work in schools to combat violence against women and girls, and combat public street harassment, says local Liberal Democrat councillor Sam Al-Hamdani
With the opportunity to bid for up to £550,000, Councillor Al-Hamdani has written to Oldham Council to ensure that they apply to run a programme later this year, such as introducing educational and community programmes across the Borough.
Councillor Al-Hamdani said: “Oldham Council already pledged to support Our Streets Now’s work to improve education in schools to combat harassment, and it is vital that we take every opportunity to change the culture around violence and abuse.
“The release of the Ofsted review of sexual abuse emphasized that all schools must be actively dealing with this. We cannot be complacent. Too many people have suffered, and we must change this.”
Following the Council’s motion in support of the criminalisation of street harassment, Our Streets Now have already run a workshop for the town’s Youth Council, and contacted Al-Hamdani, who created and proposed the motion, to discuss the opportunity for the Council to bid for the Safer Streets fund.
Councillor Al-Hamdani continued: “The work that Our Streets Now have done across the UK is amazing, and I am glad that they have reached out to us to see how they can help more in Oldham.
“Projects like this can help regain people’s trust. Sadly, too many victims of abuse lack trust in social services, in police, and even in charities. We need to make sure that they gain the support that they need, and rebuild that trust so that other people can benefit from the support that is out there.
“These crimes do more to undermine someone’s sense of self than any other. We need to understand, to have empathy, and to do everything we can to reach out and offer support.”
