Water companies raise bonuses.

More than £5,000 Town Council rebrand blasted for botched use of Latin.

Shaw and Crompton Town Council has been blasted after a name change and design rebrand costing taxpayers more than £5,000.  The switch from a ‘Parish Council’ to a ’Town Council’ has been pushed through by so-called Shaw and Crompton Independent councillors. 

The move comes with no new powers for the authority, but Freedom of Information data has revealed that the rebrand cost the council £5,112, including money spent on badges, pins and flags sporting the new council logo. 

Liberal Democrat councillor for Crompton, Dave Murphy, has blasted the new logo for its “botched use of Latin.”

The new council motto reads “Nostrum oppidum, nostra communitas, nostra ambitus” which translates as “Our town, our community, our circumference.”

Councillor Murphy said, “It’s embarrassing to think that the Shaw and Crompton Independents have spent all this money and not bothered to ask an expert.  It’s very clear they just put a few words into Google Translate.”

According to a teacher from a leading Manchester school where Latin is taught, the new logo is riddled with basic mistakes and poor grammar.  For example, ‘ambitus’ is a masculine word in Latin, meaning ‘nostra’ should really be ‘noster’.  Capital letters should not be used in this case as they are reserved for proper nouns. 

Councillor Diane Williamson, who represents Crompton North on the Town Council, said, “If we’re going to use a language like Latin we should at least be getting it right.  This is just embarrassing.  If the so-called Independents had carried out a consultation in the first place, rather than internet translation, the council could have got the community involved and got proper advice on the translation.”

Notes:

Please see below from Manchester School.

Dear Dave,

Apologies for the delay in getting back to you – it’s been a mad week!

The first two parts of the translation look fine to me: ‘nostrum oppidum, nostra communitas’ translates to ‘our town, our community,’ although none of the letters should be capitalised, as Latin only capitalises proper nouns. However, the third part is problematic: ‘ambitus’ means something more like ‘circumference’ in English and is also a masculine word, so would need ‘noster’ rather than ‘nostra.’

I’m not sure that Latin has an exact equivalent for what we would term ‘environment’ in a modern sense; the closest thing I can think of off the top of my head would be something like ‘noster ager’ – literally ‘our field, our countryside,’ but its extended meaning is ‘the whole of the soil belonging to a community,’ which might fit quite nicely. ‘nostrum rus’ would be similar, emphasising countryside/green spaces as opposed to a city space.

Other options would be ‘nostra circumiacentia’ – more like ‘our surroundings’ or ‘the areas around us’ and ‘nostra habitatio’ would equate to more like ‘the place where we live/our habitat.’

I’m very happy to put you in touch with one of my contacts at Manchester University, who might be able to think of something more accurate, if that would help? Just let me know.

Kind regards,

More than 5,000 people waited longer than 24 hours in A&E in Oldham’s local hospitals.

More than 5,000 people waited longer than 24 hours in A&E in Oldham’s local hospitals last year.  Half of those people were over the age of 65. Long waits in A&E can be fatal. 

Health and Social Care is in crisis.  The Labour Government must use next week’s Budget to save the NHS. 

The Liberal Democrat plan to winterproof the NHS is clear.  £1.5 billion over the next four years to build resilience in A&E departments, hospital wards, ambulance services and patient discharge.  Ending the culture of last minute, emergency winter cash and giving the NHS the stability it needs to drive long-term improvements. 

Source: FOI Data provided by Northern Care Alliance

403 circular bus is it North Bound or South Bound on Market Street, Shaw? 

Crompton Liberal Democrat Councillor Louie Hamblett has recently written to Transport for Greater Manchester’s Bee network after receiving a number of complaints regarding the 403 circular serving Shaw, Crompton and High Crompton.

In particular, the Market St. stop in Shaw where the bus uses the same stop for both directions, passengers are finding that the service is not adequately displaying whether the bus is going towards High Crompton or Oldham, causing confusion when passengers are boarding the vehicle. This has happened multiple times.

Cllr Hamblett said “It is very confusing, especially for elderly and disabled residents. I have used this service many times and witnessed passengers asking the bus driver which direction they were heading, either towards High Crompton or Oldham. This was really poor especially for a now wholly publicly owned service.”

Bee Network wrote back to Cllr Hamblett and said: “As the service from Oldham reaches Shaw, it operates in a loop through Shaw, Rushcroft, High Crompton, and returns via Shaw before continuing to Oldham. Consequently, the service vehicle generally displays “Oldham Circular” as its destination, irrespective of where the bus is in terms of the circular loop.  

I can appreciate that the display, and the fact that the service serves Market Street and High Street using stops in the northbound direction for journeys traveling into as well as out of Oldham, would lead to confusion for passengers.

I’m sorry for the experience that they’ve been having on the network as a result.  

My team has been reviewing service 403 in light of this feedback and are currently looking into improvements they can make to the journey. The goal is to ensure that the Market Street stop is served on opposite sides of the road depending on the direction of the journey, as this is where much of the confusion comes from. We’re also looking into the possibility of changing the destination display at a halfway point on the route to potentially clear up this confusion too.”

Cllr Hamblett came back and welcomed this and was happy with this response. He said hopefully this change will happen, the Bee Network will stick to their word to make this change for passengers so it makes sense for all.”

Download the posters to either deter trick or treaters, or welcome them – HAPPY HALLOWEEN.

River Beal Walk – Linney Lane.

Pleased to report the much need repairs have now been made.

Xplorer – Dunwood Park – 1 Nov 24.

Balls to tennis players says Oldham Council as Dunwood Park Tennis Courts remain unfinished until spring    

Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader and Shaw representative Howard Sykes MBE has blasted Oldham Council as tennis court saga at Dunwood Park in Shaw rumbles on. 

The parks’ tennis courts were earmarked for a revamp costing thousands of pounds this summer.  But punters were left exasperated as the courts were left unusable throughout the summer with no nets.  After councillor Sykes raised the issue with council staff, assurances were given that the work would be completed, but the Dunwood courts remain virtually untouched since August.    

Councillor Sykes said, “The work on the courts was supposed to be finished in time for the summer months when the park is busiest.  But here we are in October with no nets on the courts and no new paint job.  All the other tennis courts across Oldham Borough have been completed but no joy in Shaw.  I’ve now been told that it’s been ’too wet, damp and shaded to attempt’ the work.”

As much as £19,000 was earmarked for the courts to be revamped, but the Council have failed to prioritise Shaw, even falsely claiming that the work had been completed.  The work will now have to be done in spring 2025.

“Earlier in the year a team turned up, jet washed the courts, left them unpainted and without nets and marked the job as complete.  The problem here is that the council never bothers to inspect the work of its contractors.  This is not good enough.  And the people who suffer are the users.  This investment was supposed to encourage people to play tennis in Shaw when in fact it has done just to opposite.”  

23 July 24 Oldham Council media release that says works complete and courts are open

Summer sport: Oldham park tennis courts reopen after renovation | Oldham Council
Councillor Sykes slams tennis courts shambles (Aug 2024) 
Sykes slams Shaw tennis court shambles as Dunwood Park users left with no nets through Wimbledon fortnight and into August     – Howard Sykes (mycouncillor.org.uk)

Oldham Liberal Democrats back new RSPCA ‘Kind Sparks’ campaign to protect animals from harmful fireworks

Oldham Liberal Democrats are supporting the RSPCA’s new ‘Kind Sparks’ campaign aimed at protecting animals from the effects of harmful fireworks.  According to RSPCA data, thousands of cats and dogs could be impacted by private firework displays across Oldham over the next few months.  The animal welfare charity has stated that the loudest fireworks “cause immediate damage and pain” to animals. 

Liberal Democrat Group Leader councillor Howard Sykes said, “The loudest fireworks now produce sounds that are as loud as a gun shot.  Think about the damage that can do to cats and dogs, with hearing far more sensitive than our own.”

The RSPCA have produced a new ‘Kind Sparks’ guide to raise awareness about the effects of nuisance fireworks and to let people know how making a small change – like choosing to go to a public display instead of holding a private one – can make a big difference.

The guide also includes an interactive map which shows how many cats and dogs are estimated to live in your area.

Councillor Sykes, who represents Shaw, said, “A private display in you back garden in Shaw could impact over 10,000 pets.  The RSPCA are doing fantastic work to bring attention to this issue.”

“We all want to enjoy bonfire night and New Year’s Eve.  Whatever we’re celebrating it’s easy to make considerate choices.  Low-noise fireworks are available.”

“I would like to see the government reduce the maximum permitted noise level for fireworks from 120 decibels to 90 decibels.  It’s common sense and many other countries have already made that change.”   

More on the RSPCA ‘Kind Sparks’ campaign can be found here

More from Oldham Liberal Democrats on firework displays
Animal friendly fireworks: Oldham Liberal Democrats call on council bosses to “lead by example”   – Howard Sykes

Bee Network bus services – Feedback opportunity.

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) welcomes feedback on Bee Network bus services to support ongoing improvements in service provision, reliability, and punctuality.

Residents can access information by contacting TfGM via the Bee Network website under Help and Contact Us, which provides resources, service updates, and FAQs. Find out more here

Residents and constituents can contact hello@tfgm.com for general inquiries or to report issues, with responses managed by the Customer Contact team.

Additionally, passengers can use the Bee Network App’s ‘Rate Your Journey’ feature for real-time feedback, allowing TfGM to monitor and enhance the overall travel experience.