Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Liberal Democrat and Opposition Leader on Oldham Council said, “The new government can use any language they like. But it doesn’t change the realities on the ground in Oldham Borough.”
“We need new affordable housing in the areas people want to live. That means making use of brownfield land and ex-industrial sites.”
“A Green Belt land grab does nothing to get young people onto the housing ladder. It only creates unaffordable housing to maximise developer profit. Green Belt is Green belt and there for a very good reason it exists – calling it Grey Belt is smoke screen and disingenuous.”
Oldham Council leadership blasted for cutting first meeting of the year by two hours so that they can watch the football.
Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader councillor Howard Sykes has blasted Labour and so-called Independent councillors for cutting the Council Meeting (10/07/24) short by two hours to watch the football.
Councillor Sykes said, “I think the public will be absolutely furious that Labour suggested this.”
“Why is it that members of the Labour Group and the so-called Independents (FiPs and S&C) think they are so much better than ordinary people?”
Tonight’s full council meeting (10/07) was the first of only six voting meetings of the full council that take place each year. It coincided with England’s Euro semi-final showdown against the Netherlands. Labour councillors have proposed axing the time allowed for Opposition questions to the Leader and her Cabinet to allow for an early finish. They say they will do it all in writing after the meeting.
Councillor Sykes said, “Don’t get me wrong, I would love to go home and watch England. But the fact is we only have six Full Council meetings a year.”
“That’s six opportunities to hold those in power to account. I’m sorry, but people expect us to do our job. Most people in Oldham Borough don’t have the luxury of clocking off early just because they want to. I see no reason for councillors to behave any differently.”
“It’s certainly not ok for the ruling party to use the England match as an excuse to cut the time that opposition councillors use to hold them to account.”
More top down planning means green belt still under threat
The announcement that the Labour Government plans to continue with top-down planning targets means that future building in Oldham borough will continue to be developer-led and on green belt, and fail to address the borough’s needs, said local councillor Sam Al-Hamdani.
Experts have said that Labour’s plans mean building on additional green belt one-and-a-half times the size of Birmingham at best, and three-and-a-half times at worst.
Lib Dem councillor Sam Al-Hamdani said: “We are hearing the same tired ideas trotted out by the incoming Labour Government that we were hearing from the outgoing Conservative one.
“Housebuilding is not being held up by local authorities. It is being held up by a failure to invest. It’s the same mentality that led to the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF), which will lead to unnecessary building on the green belt. That’s why we remain opposed to GMSF and are aiming to remove Oldham from it at tonight’s full Council.”
The announcements by the Government included nothing to address the critical shortage of construction workers, and no extra financial support for brownfield development.
Sam continued: “Experts agree that housebuilding targets have never been hit without significant investment by the Government. By targeting local authority targets instead of driving housebuilding, this new Labour Government is simply continuing to use a failed model.
“These are hard choices, but any planning which fails to prioritise the right kind of houses in the right places will leave places like Oldham facing exactly the same problems – a lack of infrastructure, green spaces under threat, and not enough social housing.”
Oldham Council now fails to do summer planting while weeds continue to grow
Labour run Oldham Council has been slammed after failing to undertake summer planting while the weeds continue to grow around the Borough “like Day of the Triffids.”
Leader of Oldham Liberal Democrats councillor Howard Sykes MBE said, “The barrier planters in Shaw and Crompton were emptied out months ago but there has been no sign of any summer planting. The Council has missed the boat now and the place just looks a mess. Meanwhile, weeds continue to grow out of control. It’s like Day of the Triffids. People notice and they tell me that they feel Oldham Council is letting the Borough look run down and unloved.”
The Liberal Democrat Leader hit out at Oldham Council bosses back in February when the ruling Labour Group, now supported by a number of so-called Independents, axed jobs and resources from the Environmental Services team, responsible for the maintenance of Oldham Borough’s parks and green spaces.
Councillor Sykes said, “We warned the Council that these cuts to environmental Services would result in a much poorer service for residents, but we were assured by Labour councillors that this wouldn’t be the case. However, the facts speak for themselves, and everybody can see the difference. Just the latest case of not getting the basics right.”
Picture is Howard Sykes with the winter planting which was removed months ago and the boxes are now empty.
Oldham Coliseum Saved: Liberal Democrats welcome Oldham Council U-turn as new future for Fairbottom Street in sight
Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE has welcomed news that new funding is to be made available for the Oldham Coliseum Theatre. The news that the Coliseum will reopen at it’s historic Fairbottom Street home comes after hard campaigning including a successful motion to Oldham Council submitted by the Liberal Democrats.
Councillor Sykes said, “This is excellent news and not a moment too soon for the Coliseum. It’s a victory for the campaigners who have made this happen. The Liberal Democrats put constant pressure on the Labour Council to step in. Most recently we won a vote which pushed the Council to look again at funding for the Fairbottom street venue by re-purposing town centre regeneration funding.”
The Coliseum closed its doors in March 2023 after Arts Council England withdrew its funding, sparking huge outcry from the public and a host of famous actors from across the UK.
Councillor Sykes said, “It should never have happened. Over recent years the Oldham Council has had many opportunities to intervene and hasn’t done so. The only reason we have been able to pressure the Council to act is because Labour no longer has a majority.”
“But this is great news for the future of the Coliseum and on this occasion, Liberal Democrat councillors are all too happy for the Labour Administration to steal our ideas. This is about preserving a true cultural icon and the jewel in Oldham Borough’s crown.”
Public inquiry into historic child sex exploitation demanded again.
A full public inquiry is the only solution to Oldham Council and GMP’s failure to take action after previous investigations into historic child sex exploitation in the borough, say Oldham Liberal Democrats
They will support a motion calling for a full public inquiry at next week’s Full Council meeting.
Calls for a full public inquiry have been consistently blocked by the ruling Labour Group since the publication of the review into historic handling of abuse, written by Malcom Newsam and Gary Ridgway in 2022. Oldham Labour lost overall control of the council in May’s local elections but have narrowly held on to power with the support of some ‘Independent’ councillors.
Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader councillor Sam Al-Hamdani said: “The review released two years ago revealed the most unimaginable crimes and the suffering of children. Victims and their families deserve proper justice. We haven’t had that from the reports we’ve seen so far which have been limited in scope.
“Two years later, despite promises and warm words from those in power at the council and in the police, no direct action has been taken against those who failed children. We understand that some of those people are still in post at the council, in the police and within our social services.”
With Oldham Council now in no overall control and with the Labour Party without a majority in the council chamber, opposition parties will try again to win a vote calling for the full public inquiry that the Labour leadership has so far blocked.
Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani, who will second the motion on Wednesday 10th July, said, “The response of the council has been nowhere near good enough so far. Despite repeated questioning, they have failed to take action, repeatedly. We now have an opportunity to force the administration to do the right thing for survivors of abuse and get the full public inquiry they deserve.”
Motion calling for a public inquiry in full:
PROPOSED: Councillor Lewis Quigg
SECONDED: Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani
People in positions of power at both Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council (OMBC) and Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have yet to be held to account for their failure to protect our children from child sexual exploitation (CSE).
People of all communities in Oldham have as result of delay, obstruction and passage of time lost trust in OMBC and GMP.
As recently as January 2024, the highly respected Maggie Oliver referenced the Oldham Assurance Review and told its authors Malcom Newsam & Gary Ridgway that in Oldham they had been prevented from getting to the truth. This is after it emerged that survivors had been prevented from giving testimony to the Review Team.
The findings of the Mayor of Greater Manchester’s Assurance Review neither provided assurance nor sufficiently reviewed what had taken place. Despite claiming there was no cover up, and that lessons had been learned. This Council notes: Survivors deserve to see the full powers of law used to bring the criminals of these depraved acts to justice, no matter their rank politically, in the community, at OMBC or GMP.
OMBC, and as such its members herein, have a duty to protect children and vulnerable people of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham and beyond. The reality is, until we get to the root of the issue, we cannot move forward as we are unable to ensure that failings highlighted in the review are not continuing.
There is a significant groundswell of opinion that an independent public inquiry is needed. This Council resolves:
– To write to the Home Secretary of His Majesty’s Government to demand that a public inquiry into historic and current CSE within the Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council area. That any such investigation will investigate the failure of OMBC, GMP and all associated bodies or groups in Oldham which failed to protect our children. This Council further resolves that:
– If the Home Secretary refuses a public inquiry that OMBC approves the commissioning and implementation of a non-statutory independent inquiry historic and current CSE within the Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council area. That any such investigation will investigate the failure of OMBC, GMP and all associated bodies or groups in Oldham which failed to protect our children and to instruct OMBC officers to commission such an inquiry immediately.
