The Liberal Democrats have revealed the shocking truth that some disabled people in Oldham have had to wait for almost three years for a parking bay.
And, sadly, there seems no end in sight as Oldham’s Labour Administration has not allocated any funding for the creation of disabled parking bays in the last two financial years.
Disabled parking bays require minimal work, the area designated as the bay is painted onto the highway and they only require a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) to be issued.
Councillor Howard Sykes MBE wrote to the Deputy Chief Executive of Oldham Council in January taking up the issue of the wait time on behalf of one of his Shaw constituents. He was seeking answers about what was happening with the backlog, and found those answers disturbing to say the least.
Councillor Sykes said: “Eighty people are now waiting for assessments to determine their eligibility for a parking bay. These are all people who hold a Blue Badge and have severe disabilities. They need a disabled parking bay to access a vehicle that is parked near their home to get out and about. It is tragic that some have had to wait almost three years – forcing increased isolation, and this waiting list is steadily growing.”
“It is scandal that some of these people waiting will either be dead or no longer able to drive by the time their application is dealt with. It is just not good enough and they deserve better!” Added Councillor Sykes.
“Oldham Council has failed to allocate any money for providing disabled parking bays since the 2018-19 financial year. This increasing backlog will only continue to get worse.” Councillor Sykes continued, “I shall carry on advocating on behalf of these forgotten and vulnerable citizens and press Oldham Council to make some cash available so we can provide some hope of light at the end of the tunnel for these disabled people who have been waiting patiently for so long.”
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority will consider approving in principle a proposal to develop a new plan to build homes across nine of the ten districts of Greater Manchester at a meeting of its Executive next Friday (12 February). Surprisingly no specific timescale is given in the report for the plan’s production, but the Government requires a local plan to be in place by December 2023.
The previous Greater Manchester Spatial Framework proposals were abandoned at the end of last year after Liberal Democrat Councillors in Stockport led the charge to withdraw that authority from the controversial plan. Oldham’s Leader of the Opposition, Liberal Democrat Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, hopes that the leaders of the nine remaining authorities, eight of which are Labour-led and one Conservative, will use this new opportunity to finally abandon their universally unpopular proposals to build thousands of new homes on the Greenbelt.
Councillor Sykes said: “This is such an important issue. The new plan will have a significant long-term impact on land use in our districts and on the quality of life of residents, so it is incredibly important that we get this right. It has been clear throughout the development of the ill-fated, ill-conceived Greater Manchester Spatial Framework that the people of this region do not want homes built on our irreplaceable Green Belt.
“Opposition to Green Belt development has also been the consistent position of Liberal Democrat Councillors across Greater Manchester and this will continue to be the case. We feel that there is no justification for building new homes on any of our precious green spaces, and we will join local people in opposing such development proposals if they continue to be part of this new plan.”
Councillor Sykes continued: “I now hope that the leaders of the nine authorities will take a fresh look at this issue and finally recognise that Green Belt development will never be accepted by Liberal Democrat Councillors and the public.”
“If Greater Manchester’s Labour Mayor and the nine Council leaders really want to bring public opinion with them, they need to focus solely on development on Brownfield sites and repurposing many of the empty factories, mills, pubs, and houses across our region to bring them back into use as homes to meet our housing need. That way when they bring their new plan forward for public consultation, and then present it to Oldham Council for approval, instead of being as one in opposition, we can all say, as Liberal Councillors and public, ‘yes’.”
The Oldham Liberal Democrats will be proposing in their amendment to Labour’s 2021-22 Council Budget measures to make Oldham a ‘Healthier, Greener and Cleaner’ Borough.
They have found cash to invest in:
three much needed new health centres for Shaw and Crompton, Saddleworth, and Chadderton;
make Oldham Council greener and more energy efficient;
improve pavements;
and tackle speeding, anti-social behaviour, fly-tipping and dog-fouling across communities.
The Deputy Leader of the Opposition, and Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance and the Green agenda, Councillor Chris Gloster, will be first presenting the Liberal Democrat’s Budget Amendment to the Council’s Performance and Value for Money Committee when it meets on 9 February, for pre Council scrutiny before tabling it for consideration by the Full Council when it debates the budget on 4 March.
Over the next five years, the Liberal Democrats are proposing to invest £18 million to build three new health centres for patients in Shaw and Crompton, Saddleworth and Chadderton by 2026. Invest £6.5 million in building a green infrastructure taking Oldham forward in its ambition to be Britain’s first carbon-neutral Council and Borough. Create a dedicated fund worth £2.5 million to repair our pavements.
For the next financial year, the Liberal Democrats have also found £294,000 more to tackle the antisocial behaviour, such as fly-tipping, litter and dog-fouling, which ruins so many communities and blights the lives of so many Oldham residents. They will spend £200,000 to introduce 20-mph zones in residential streets to cut road deaths and injuries, especially amongst children and the elderly. This is also part of their build back better agenda and making sure we recognise and keep the increased amount of walking that has happened due to the lockdowns.
In the next two years, the Liberal Democrats have identified over £1.2 million in savings from cutting Civic Centre bureaucracy and waste, such as reducing or abolishing car mileage allowances for Council staff that no longer need them (working from home for example), to spend on front-line services. They also wish to redirect a significant sum from the Council’s Capital Programme currently allocated to ‘so called projects’ in Oldham town centre to realise their ambitions.
Commenting Councillor Gloster said: “As we hopefully emerge from the nightmare of Covid-19, the proposals we have outlined in our budget amendment will help make Oldham a healthier, greener and cleaner Borough, and I am looking forward to outlining them to the PVFM Committee.”
“I anticipate some tough questions as – rightly – it is the job of PVFM to properly scrutinise any plans to save or spend the hard-earned cash of our residents, but I also expect that those of our proposals which are rejected by the committee this year may well be taken up by Labour next year, or in subsequent years, without fanfare and without giving credit to the Liberal Democrats, as has happened in the past.”
Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Leader of the Opposition, spoke in support of the proposals: “I would first like to thank Chris and the finance team for their hard work in putting together this Budget Amendment. The Liberal Democrats have consistently, year-on-year, put forward common-sense proposals which cut waste at the Civic Centre to reinvest in the frontline services that matter to Council Tax-payers, and this has again been our approach this time around.”
“Although Council finances remain very tight and we have very little latitude to make changes, the Liberal Democrats have once again come up with some innovative ideas that would – if implemented – significantly improve the lives of many of the residents of our Borough. It is noticeable that yet again the Conservative Group has failed to put forward any proposals of its own. They talk tough but consistently fail to back it up with actions. This demonstrates once more that only the Liberal Democrats have credibility as an opposition to Labour in Oldham Borough.”
Pleased to report the above is now up and running.
The loss of local ATM machines over the last few years has been a concern for your Shaw & Crompton Liberal Democrat Councillors and we have raised the matter with the regulator on more than one occasion.
Hopefully this replacement machine will help prevent ‘Shaw running out of cash’ at peak times like Bank Holidays.
Oldham’s Liberal Democrat Councillors are backing a union appeal to Boris Johnson urging the Prime Minister to ensure that ‘No child should be hungry’. The National Education Union, which represents teaching staff, has called on councillors from all political parties, and none, to endorse a collective letter to the PM asking for immediate action.
Liberal Democrat Councillors in Oldham have long been campaigning for the extension of free school meals to all children in need. They recently brought a motion to the November 2020 meeting of Oldham Council supporting the excellent work being done by footballer Marcus Rashford and calling on the government to provide free school meals to the children of all families in receipt of Universal Credit.
The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, was the first of his group to sign the letter: “This appeal strikes at the heart of everything local Liberal Democrats have been saying for years. It is shameful and totally unacceptable that in the UK, which is one of the world’s largest economies, we still have children going hungry.”
“Countless studies show that the education of hungry children suffers as they are too focused on their empty stomachs to learn. The reality is that there are now many more breadwinners who have been furloughed or lost their jobs as a result of the Covid pandemic and are finding it a struggle to feed their families on a lower wage or Universal Credit.”
The Liberal Democrats would also like to see more government money for breakfast clubs to be established in all schools attended by an above-average number of pupils from poorer families, so that they can access a nutritious breakfast before the start of the school day, but they recognise that the NEU appeal is a start.
Councillor Sykes added: “With Boris Johnson’s promise that children will be able to return to their classrooms from March, there is now an urgent need for the government to make this aspiration a reality. Extending the provision of free school meals will ensure that our most disadvantaged children can access at least one nutritious meal a day, so they focus on their lessons and not on their tummy.”
As people may be aware, regular Coronavirus testing for people who work with the public and who are not showing symptoms has begun in Oldham at four sites. These are:
? Shaw Life Long Learning Centre
? Failsworth Town Hall
? Oldham Leisure Centre
? Uppermill Civic Hall
Can I encourage eligible people to consider having a test at least once a week. No booking is required, the tests are free, and results are back in under an hour.
Shaw Liberal Democrat Councillors were pleased to hear today (29 January) that a planning application to convert the former Weavers Answer public house on Milnrow Road, Shaw into an 18-room temporary homeless hostel has been refused.
Liberal Democrat Councillor for the Shaw Ward, Howard Sykes MBE, and his ward colleagues had asked for the application to be considered by the full Planning Committee and urged members of the public to comment. Shaw and Crompton Parish Council, on which Councillor Sykes also serves, registered its objections as a statutory consultee as did over one hundred residents.
Today, a Planning Officer has published the decision to refuse the application on planning grounds without the need for a committee hearing. In the notice issued today to the applicant and his representative, the grounds for refusal are specified:
‘The proposed roof alterations, by virtue of the hip to gable extension and extensive dormer sizes would create over-dominant and incongruous features which would cause significant, adverse harm on the character and appearance of the building and street scene. The proposed development is therefore contrary to Policies 9 and 20 of the Oldham Local Plan’.
Commenting on the latest news, Councillor Sykes said: “The applicant now has a legal right to appeal the decision, and even if this is unsuccessful he may choose to resubmit the application in a modified form or to repurpose the building in some other way, so this is one to watch. In any case, the planning decision makes clear that any application involving the creation of a hostel or a multi-bedroomed property must become licensed with the local authority as an HMO, or House in Multiple Occupation, which will present a further hurdle.”
Councillor Sykes added: “All Councillors recognise that there is a need for accommodation of this type in Oldham, but this is not the right location for it, and that its why local Councillors, the Parish Council and residents objected so strongly”.
The planning application is number FUL/345796/20 and can be found at:
