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

Shaw and Crompton Parish Council have recommended refusal of the planning application to convert the former Weavers Answer public house on Milnrow Road Shaw to an 18 bedroom hostel.

The Parish Council heard from several members of the public who expressed concerns that the development was inappropriate for the area.

The council voted in favour of refusal on the grounds of: design, scale and massing, loss of privacy, visual amenity, potential for noise and disturbance and layout density.

The application will now be considered by the Oldham Borough Council planning committee prior to a decision, at the request of your Liberal Democrat Councillors for Shaw.

The Home Office’s new Tackling Child Sex Abuse Strategy could help put the UK ahead of the world in tackling abuse, but a Government which is big on promises and poor on delivery must not miss this opportunity, says Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani.

He raised concerns that much of the strategy can only be delivered with spending decisions that have been put off by the current Conservative Government, as well as new legislation which has been repeatedly delayed.

The 91-page strategy details the extent to which the police, social care, intelligence agencies and government must work together to make an impact on abuse, and bring offenders to justice. It specifically targets online spaces, and focuses on providing adequate safeguarding for children and young people, as well as support for victims.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani said: “This report is an important step in changing the national response to child sex abuse. It is vital that local teams and approaches work and have a single agreed approach which fits with national strategies and funding. The Home Office-sponsored Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse is reporting on a series of areas which will feed into this response, and I am glad that Oldham Council has backed our demand to implement any of the relevant recommendations from those reports that are necessary in our Borough.”

However, the strategy also delegates spending decisions to the next spending review, which will mainly be about – understandably – the UK’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. The strategy itself highlights a number of issues, such as skills gaps among practitioners, and delays in the criminal justice system, which cannot be improved without dedicated funding increases.

Councillor Al-Hamdani continued: “This Government has repeatedly said that it is going to deliver ‘world-beating’ services. I judge them on their actions, not their words.

“The Strategy calls for better coordination between international policing agencies – the Government has failed to get an agreement in place to allow us to work with European police. It has failed to bring forward the Online Harms Bill – although at least that is now expected later this year.”

The Liberal Democrats in Oldham have repeatedly highlighted loopholes in the UK’s current legislation, and put forward an agenda for change, including recent successful motions on a domestic abuse register, on the NSPCC’s Closing the Loophole campaign, and on street harassment.

Councillor Al-Hamdani concluded: “There are many good things in this report that we need to see rolled out across the UK, and in Oldham itself. We cannot let improvements in services that strive to keep our children safe be derailed by further delays in legislation, a lack of dedicated funding, or by a Government that seems to believe in words, not deeds.”

Conservative changes to planning targets will force Greater Manchester to build an extra 35% more houses than had been planned, which seems likely increase the pressure on green spaces in and around Oldham and Saddleworth.

Following the withdrawal of Stockport from the Greater Manchester development plan, the remaining nine authorities are redrawing the plan, and there is no indication that the other boroughs will be able to avoid taking a share of the additional housing demand.

Liberal Democrat shadow cabinet member for Housing and Homelessness Sam Al-Hamdani said: “The targets being set are completely unrealistic. There need to either be significant changes to fund the regeneration of previously used land, or local authorities need the powers to insist developers cannot build on green spaces while brownfield sites remain.

“The previous version of the Greater Manchester framework was unable to deliver the housing targets without building on the green belt. If central Government increases the figures like this, they are forcing more development on green space. They will then blame it on local authorities, rather than accepting responsibility for their own decisions.”

The next version of the Greater Manchester plan is not expected to be released until after the elections for the Greater Manchester Mayor, so any resulting increases in development on green space are not expected to be announced while they can impact on the election results.

Councillor Al-Hamdani continued: “There are no easy solutions to this. We need more houses, and we have green spaces that we want to protect. It requires honesty in decision making, and responsibility from the people making those decisions. Sadly, I do not see this Conservative Government standing up for either of those values.”

Oldham Liberal Democrat Councillors want to see ‘rolling’ criminal records checks introduced for all elected members as part of an ongoing campaign to improve safeguarding and reassure the public.

The Liberal Democrats have previously called on the government to bar Councillors from office, or standing for office, if they are convicted of an offence requiring them to sign the Sex Offenders Register.  They have also asked the government to tighten up existing legislation to ensure that all persons in a ‘position of trust’ who are currently exempted, such as sports coaches, cannot lawfully engage in sexual activity with a young person in their care.

At present, all Oldham Councillors must apply for an enhanced criminal record check at the start of every four-year term of office.  This is vetted by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).  The Leader of the Opposition and the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, recently suggested to Council senior managers that ‘rolling’ DBS checks be introduced for all elected members, as happens with teachers, but he was told this was not possible under the law.  He has now taken his case further by writing to the Chair and Chief Executive of the DBS itself for an explanation of the legal position.

Commenting, Councillor Sykes said: “Elected members are rightly expected by their electorates to be law-abiding, upright citizens who are sincere in their commitment to serve their community.  Contrary to what you might read online, the vast majority of councillors of all parties, and none, fit this description, but regrettably there are rare occasions, when elected members do break the law whilst in office and are also sometimes convicted of offences that outrage both their peers and public decency.” 

Councillor Sykes added: “If we had ‘rolling’ DBS checks for all councillors, we would discover any offending behaviour, and be able to act upon it, more quickly.  This would enable us to better safeguard young people and vulnerable people placed at risk because of the behaviour of offenders, but also take other appropriate action as a Council against that offender, such as excluding them from inappropriate posts.”

He concluded:  “I hope that the Chair and Chief Executive of the Disclosure and Barring Service will respond to my letter by confirming that we can in fact introduce these checks and where in the legislation it is permissible, so we can get on with it.  If the government also did as we have asked, instead of continuing to sit on their hands, and changed the law to exclude from office councillors who are convicted and forced to sign the Sex Offenders Register, then that would also aid us immensely.”

Transport bosses confirmed today (22 January) they have decided to scrap free wi-fi on Metrolink permanently as a cost-saving option, despite the objections of Liberal Democrat Councillor Howard Sykes MBE.

The issue was discussed on Friday 22 January at a meeting of the Rail and Metrolink Committee of the Transport for Greater Manchester Board at the request of Councillor Sykes, who sits on the Committee and Board as an Oldham representative.

Councillor Sykes also represents Shaw Ward, which is located on the busiest Metrolink tram service and has the most used stop – Shaw and Crompton – on the Rochdale – Oldham line.

In July 2020, in response to complaints from constituents who use the tram, he raised that the Wi-fi service had not been available on trams on the line since the onset of the Coronavirus Lockdown.  Councillor Sykes wrote to Metrolink bosses asking them to turn it back on.  He was informed that during the travel restrictions which accompanied the Covid Lockdown, the service had been switched off and was under long-term ‘review’.

Today’s Committee meeting confirmed the switch off of the Wi-fi service permanently citing cost pressures.

Commenting Councillor Sykes said: “Unfortunately, no Wi-fi on trams and the Manchester City Centre free buses is now a reality.  This done deal was a decision that was only exposed because I raised it, and there are no plans to reintroduce it.  I think this is short-sighted.”

“Like passengers on buses and trains, Wi-fi is a service that Metrolink passengers will expect because as passenger usage does start to increase after the pandemic, and as we look to expand the network, there will be an increased demand for free Wi-fi from passengers.  The fact this was done ‘on the quiet’ is typical how the GM Mayor makes such ‘bad news’ decisions.”

A new campaign to encourage older people in Greater Manchester to top up their weekly income by claiming Pension Credit launched last week.

It is estimated that 43,000 people across the region could be eligible to benefit from £76 million of unclaimed Pension Credit.

Greater Manchester’s housing providers – who between them provide more than 250,000 affordable homes for more than half a million people – will lead the campaign to support residents to “top up”.

They will use their money advice services and other strong relationships with their customers to encourage tenants to take up the benefit. Pension Credit also unlocks other financial benefits including a free TV licence for over 75s, housing benefit and council tax support, and money towards home insulation.

Find out more here.

Service 182 (Rochdale – Milnrow – Shaw – Manchester) – First Manchester (hourly)

Curtailed to run between between Shaw Wrens Nest and Manchester. Replaced by service 408 between Shaw, Milnrow and Rochdale. This change is introduced to improve punctuality of the service.

Service 408 (Oldham – Royton – Shaw – Buckstones) – First Manchester (hourly)

Extended beyond Buckstones to Milnrow and Rochdale (replacing service 182).

This change is introduced to improve punctuality of the service (increased recovery time at each end of the route) and provides a new daytime link from Milnrow to Royal Oldham Hospital as well as reintroducing the bus link from Milnrow to Oldham which was removed when service 58 was replaced by service 182 in Summer 2020.

A section of Milnrow Road (520 metres end to end) becomes unserved. We continue to work to address this. I have also asked officers to ask First if it is possible to include a diversion via Grains Road and Hannerton Road (see map).

MAP BELOW SHOW CHANGES

No change to the following services:

57 Oldham – Shaw – Rushcroft

403 Oldham – Shaw – Rushcroft & High Crompton

435 Rochdale – Shaw – Buckstones

181 Shaw Wrens Nest – Royton – Manchester (peak only)