Shaw candidates May 2

Shaw candidates May 2.

Dunwood Park Courts bin areas

Dunwood Park Courts bin areas

Many of the bin areas on Dunwood park Courts are in a real mess due to a few anti-social people.

I have raised this issue with Oldham Council and Guinness Housing who have promised to take action.

Former Bulls Head/Vamaski building Grains Bar

Former Bulls Head/Vamaski building Grains Bar

Have asked for the rubbish and ‘materials’ on the Buckstones Road side of the building to be cleared.

I also continue to press the owner via the Council to keep the building safe and secure.

There is still no news on its re-development despite planning permission being approved some time ago. And the last I heard the site was up for sale.

End the sewage dumping scandal

End the sewage dumping scandal.

For a better Borough

For a better Borough.

Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader backs Parliamentarian’s call for Houses in Multiple Occupancy (HMO) planning reform

Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader backs Parliamentarian’s call for Houses in Multiple Occupancy (HMO) planning reform

Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader and Shaw ward representative councillor Howard Sykes MBE has backed calls for reform of ‘permitted development rights’ (PDRs) to close loopholes that make it easy for developers to convert commercial properties into high density HMO housing.

Councillor Sykes said, “We’re already battling a HMO epidemic in Oldham. What we need is high quality housing for future generations, but planning laws that make it easy for greedy developers to prioritise cheap, multiple occupancy developments are a major barrier.”

Councillor Sykes has joined Liberal Democrat Housing Spokesperson Baroness Thornhill in calling for a review of Permitted Development Rights before the new legislation comes into effect.

“When planning laws are relaxed to allow developers to pack housing units into ex-commercial sites, the developer makes the big bucks, but the quality of housing is poor and its local people who suffer the consequences,” Sykes argued.

“There is still time for the Government to get this right.”

Baroness Thornhill calls for review of Permitted Development Rights
Senior Lib Dem calls for permitted development rights review (themj.co.uk)

Sewage dumped into English rivers, lakes and coasts

Sewage dumped into English rivers, lakes and coasts.

This has to stop!

Greater Manchester Police taking nearly 16 hours to attend burglary calls

Greater Manchester Police taking nearly 16 hours to attend burglary calls

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) took an average of nearly 16 hours to attend burglaries across Oldham and Greater Manchester shocking new figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats have revealed.

The average response time in England was nine hours and eight minutes but GMP came in at a chocking 15 hours and 56 minutes making it one of the worst performing forces in the country for burglary response.

Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE said, “This government has effectively decriminalised burglary. People across Oldham and Greater Manchester are being failed by Conservatives and Labour alike.”

“The Conservatives have been promising to fix policing for years now, and our Labour Mayor Mr Burnham also has questions to answer.”

Greater Manchester Police became only the second police force in the country to be placed into special measures in December 2020 after a series of failures including the failure to record 80,000 crimes across the city region.

Councillor Sykes said, “Having your home broken into is a traumatic and life-changing experience. This is serious crime we’re talking about and GMP are nowhere near where we need them to be.”

“Clearly, we need a change of government to deliver the return to properly resourced community policing that people want and deserve. But if Andy Burnham’s track record in Greater Manchester is anything to go by, then Labour and the Conservatives are just as bad as each other when it comes to policing.”