Based in the Shaw & Crompton Parish Council office Kershaw Street Shaw.

Howard Sykes has lived in Shaw all his life and lives in the heart of the town, unlike the Labour and Conservative candidates who live miles away in Werneth.  For more than 30 years as a councillor he has been speaking out and standing up for Shaw and its people.

Howard is honoured to serve the people of Shaw, and he is asking for YOUR support to help him to keep fighting and campaigning for YOU.

While others appear more interested in personal attacks and mudslinging, Howard’s fight, as it has always been, is for the people of Shaw and Crompton and this community.

Howard:

• is fighting for a new Health Centre for Shaw and Crompton,
• fights to protect our green spaces and Green Belt,
• wants to get our roads and footways repaired,
• campaigns to keep our town and neighbourhoods clean and tidy,
• wants a thriving Market, and supports Shaw’s businesses and voluntary organisations.

Oldham Liberal Democrats are dismayed that the Mayor of Greater Manchester and Police and Crime Commissioner is not immediately publishing a damning report into Police management and performance.

Oldham Liberal Democrat Group Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE has previously raised his concerns in letters and meetings with Mayor Andy Burnham.

Commenting councillor Sykes said: “Regrettably Mayor Burnham’s tenure as Police and Crime Commissioner has not been a happy one.  Greater Manchester Police has under his woeful watch allowed over 80,000 crimes to go unrecorded in a single year, seen the departure of a Chief Constable under a cloud, and spent a fortune on a new iOPs Police computer system which still doesn’t work properly and at one point was functioning so poorly that officers had to go back to using paper and pen to take notes.  Under Mayor Burnham, victims have been failed and criminals have not been prosecuted.”

Although the new Chief Constable, Stephen Watson, has seen the report, Mayor Burnham has refused to release the report, commissioned from consultants Pricewaterhousecoopers, until the Chief Constable formally commences his new duties at the end of May.

“This excuse provides just enough delay to enable Mayor Burnham to get through the process of seeking reelection as Mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner of Greater Manchester without the contents of this report impacting on his election hopes”, added Councillor Sykes.

“From what I have heard the report provides grim reading, with scathing comments about Police culture, management and performance that go to the very top.  This is not the first time Greater Manchester Police has come in for serious criticism.  Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary was condemnatory in its findings when it reported last year.  This new report is now ready, it has been commissioned at public expense, so why can’t we the public see it?”

Dear Howard,

Thank you for completing the Manchester Friends of the Earth local election environment survey.

You can see your and other candidates responses at: 

Election Survey 2021 – Candidates

If you use social media such as Twitter and Facebook it would be great if you would consider publicly supporting the @friends_earth Climate Action Pledge with the attached pledge card.   Hashtag #TakeClimateAction

Pleased to report this fly-tipping has now been removed, following my intervention, including the asbestos.

If anybody has any information about who might have done this or other fly-tipping in Shaw and Crompton please let me or the authorities know.

This costs council tax payers hundreds of thousands pounds every year, money that could be better spent. Cowboy’s like this need bring to book, hopefully there will be something in this waste that allows it to be traced where it came from and the fly-tippers can be made to pay.

Shaw Liberal Democrat Councillors have written to the residents of Dunwood Park Courts and along Milnrow Road asking them to sign a petition in support of restoring a bus service along the whole of Milnrow Road. 

Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, who also serves as Oldham’s representative on the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee, is co-ordinating the effort to get as many residents as possible to support the campaign.

Councillor Sykes said:  “From January, the 181/2 bus services coming from Manchester terminated at Wrens Nest and the 408 now turns onto and off Buckstones Road so no bus travels along the whole of Milnrow Road to Wrens Nest.”

“Shaw Councillors have received many complaints from residents who rely on public transport who are now finding it more difficult to connect with other bus services.  If  they are unable to walk to Wrens Nest, they have to use taxis to get a bus, which means more expense and inconvenience for people who are in many cases retired and living on a pension or have a low income.”  

Residents of Milnrow Road, Dunwood Park Courts, Railway View, Bridge Street, and Goats currently have no bus connection with Wrens Nest, and Councillor Sykes thinks a petition will help him get their voices heard. 

Councillor Sykes added:  “From before the changes were made, I was lobbying Transport for Greater Manchester to step in and plug this gap. I have raised this issue in committee meetings and in private conversation with officers to try and rectify the matter.   However, nothing has changed for the better.

“I am asking constituents to help put this right by signing this petition.  The more signatures we raise the better. Bus services are just that services, and at present Dunwood Park Court and Milnrow Road residents are not being served.”

Paper copies of the petition can be obtained from howard.sykes@oldham.gov.uk or an online version can be used at:

https://libdemcouncillors.typeform.com/to/gCSnYPCX

For real time information: https://oldham.roadworks.org/

Come and try your hand at the historic art of dry-stone walling.  This is the perfect opportunity to have a go, and learn how to take down and re-build a dry-stone wall within the beautiful setting of Crompton Moor.  

No experience is necessary, and all tools, protective eyewear, and materials will be provided. 

Please dress, according to the weather, and you will require stout outdoor footwear and work gloves.  Please bring a packed lunch and something to drink.

We will meet in Brushes Clough car park, on Crompton Moor, at 10:30 am and finish around 3:00 pm.

If you have any questions, please let us know by email – romptonmoor@gmail.com, or you can call us on 07792 156295. 

Booking is essential for this popular event. 

Kind Regards, Marian Herod, Secretary – Friends of Crompton Moor

www.cromptonmoor.co.uk

As yet another wildfire ravages Marsden Moor, Saddleworth North Liberal Democrat Councillor Garth Harkness is backing the No Moor BBQs campaign of the British Mountaineering Council for a complete ban on disposable barbecues, and wants to see more action and powers to tackle the arsonists who deliberately or inadvertently set fire to precious moorland.

Councillor Harkness is standing for election again next month and intends to take this issue up as a priority if returned to office.

“We have all seen the devastation caused by idiots who start fires deliberately or irresponsibly use and leave disposable barbecues,” councillor Harkness said.  “Too much of our precious and beautiful moorland has over the years already been lost to this madness and along with it sadly much of our wildlife.”

It is estimated that since 2007 over 77km2 of moorland in the Peak District alone has been destroyed as a result of wildfires, many of which were caused through disposable BBQs. 

Councillor Harkness added:  “The government needs to outlaw portable barbeques and allow the Courts to impose a heavy fine upon those who are prosecuted.  The current penalties are simply not enough.  That is why I am backing the British Mountaineering Council campaign for No Moor BBQs.”

The British Mountaineering Council’s campaign for No Moor BBQs can be found at:https://www.thebmc.co.uk/disposable-bbq-moorland-ban-no-moor-bbq