Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and the Metrolink operator KeolisAmey (KAM), regularly carry out maintenance, repairs and renewal work to track, overhead electric wires and other vital equipment to improve the travelling experience and service to passengers.
Essential track replacement work is due to be carried out on the curved track as the tram leaves the Westwood Metrolink stop close to Winterbottom Street. Initial preparation work will be carried out overnight between midnight and 5:00am from Monday 28 June to Saturday 3 July.
Works will then continue and the Metrolink line will close from after the last tram at 1:00am on Sunday 4 July until the first tram in service at 4:30am on Monday 5 July 2021.
During the works on Sunday 4 July there will be no tram services between Rochdale town centre and the Freehold Metrolink stop. A bus replacement service will be in operation and temporary signage in place to direct passengers.
Due to the proximity of the Metrolink works to the track, overhead electric wires, and the need to use Road Rail Vehicles, 24 hour working will be required throughout this period when trams are not running. This will ensure that site fencing and traffic management can be set up and the repairs completed as quickly as possible to minimise disruption to the local community and travelling passengers.
If you require information regarding the Metrolink works, please contact the Customer Relations team on 0161 244 1000, or emailing customer.relations@tfgm.com. Further travel information can be found on the TfGM website: https://tfgm.com/metrolink-improvement-works.
The Oldham Liberal Democrats are proposing the Council gets ready to tackle nuisance pavement parking by preparing now for future legislation.
A motion has been tabled by Lib Dem councillors Dave Murphy and Chris Gloster for consideration at the next full meeting of Oldham Council (14 July 2021).
The Department of Transport carried out a consultation about pavement parking that ended in November last year. It is expected that the government will soon give local councils new powers to tackle problem parking, and the Liberal Democrats want to be ready.
Councillor Dave Murphy explained: “The government consulted about a range of ‘options for change’ in the way that pavement parking is regulated. We made clear in our response that we opposed a blanket ban on all pavement parking as this is simply not fair and realistic in a borough where so many of our motorists live in terraced houses on narrow streets. It would also be very time consuming and expensive for the local authority to enforce.”
“Instead we want to see specific enforcement powers granted to local Councils to enable them to deal more effectively with pavement parking when it becomes a real nuisance to pedestrians, particularly residents with sight loss, other disabilities or infirmities, or using pushchairs. We are keen to see the outcome of the consultation as soon as possible, as it now overdue.”
To make ready for any new legislation, the Liberal Democrat motion calls for all councillors to become involved in a survey to identify problem parking spots in their ward and for officers to identify a new strategy to tackle the nuisance.
Councillor Chris Gloster, a retired traffic police officer, said: “We want all ward councillors to be consulted in order to create a boroughwide map of troublesome pavement parking spots in advance of new legislation. This is a common-sense proposal that draws on the local knowledge of our ward members as local leaders, gained as a result of information from their constituents.”
“We also want officers to prepare a report to a future council meeting outlining what steps they propose to take to tackle this issue when new enforcement measures become available. This will mean we can hit the ground running as soon as the law allows.”
The motion tabled at the next full meeting of Oldham Council, 14 July 2021, reads:
Motion – Pavement Parking: Options for Change
This Council notes that:
Pavement parking can pose a hazard to pedestrians, especially people with sight loss, parents with pushchairs, wheelchair users and other disabled people.
People with sight loss are especially at risk as they can be forced into the road and faced with oncoming traffic that they cannot see.
Pavements are not designed to take the weight of vehicles and so surfaces can become damaged or subside, presenting a further hazard for pedestrians, particularly those with disabilities.
Action to tackle pavement parking in this Borough is currently problematic because:
The current legislation on nuisance pavement parking is confusing.
The legal remedies available to tackle nuisance pavement parking are unsatisfactory.
Greater Manchester Police has previously refused a Council request for assistance with enforcement.
Council:
Awaits with interest the Government’s promised response to the public submissions made to the Department of Transport’s ‘Pavement Parking: Options for Change’ consultation, but regrets that this response, promised by 31 March, is now over three months late.
Anticipates that the outcome of the consultation will be for government to grant new powers to local authorities to address nuisance pavement parking, rather than imposing an unnecessary blanket ban that will be onerous on residents and costly and difficult for local authorities to enforce.
Council resolves to:
Ask the Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State for Transport requesting that the Government’s response to the consultation now be published as promised.
Ask the relevant Executive Director to conduct a survey amongst the elected members of this Council asking members to identify streets within their ward where nuisance pavement parking occurs.
Ask the relevant Cabinet Member to bring to a future meeting of this Council a report with the findings of this survey and details of the enforcement action that this Council proposes to take, taking account of any new powers the Government promises to make available to local authorities in their published response to the consultation.
The addition of £25 million from the Home Office into the Safer Streets fund is an opportunity for Oldham to improve its work in schools to combat violence against women and girls, and combat public street harassment, says local Liberal Democrat councillor Sam Al-Hamdani
With the opportunity to bid for up to £550,000, Councillor Al-Hamdani has written to Oldham Council to ensure that they apply to run a programme later this year, such as introducing educational and community programmes across the Borough.
Councillor Al-Hamdani said: “Oldham Council already pledged to support Our Streets Now’s work to improve education in schools to combat harassment, and it is vital that we take every opportunity to change the culture around violence and abuse.
“The release of the Ofsted review of sexual abuse emphasized that all schools must be actively dealing with this. We cannot be complacent. Too many people have suffered, and we must change this.”
Following the Council’s motion in support of the criminalisation of street harassment, Our Streets Now have already run a workshop for the town’s Youth Council, and contacted Al-Hamdani, who created and proposed the motion, to discuss the opportunity for the Council to bid for the Safer Streets fund.
Councillor Al-Hamdani continued: “The work that Our Streets Now have done across the UK is amazing, and I am glad that they have reached out to us to see how they can help more in Oldham.
“Projects like this can help regain people’s trust. Sadly, too many victims of abuse lack trust in social services, in police, and even in charities. We need to make sure that they gain the support that they need, and rebuild that trust so that other people can benefit from the support that is out there.
“These crimes do more to undermine someone’s sense of self than any other. We need to understand, to have empathy, and to do everything we can to reach out and offer support.”
One month after Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader Councillor Howard Sykes MBE wrote to Andy Burnham requesting publication of a report into the management and performance of Greater Manchester Police, the Greater Manchester Labour Mayor has failed to honour his promise to make the report public.
Mayor Burnham contrived to delay publishing the report before his mayoral re-election, claiming that it would be inappropriate to do so before the new Police chief, Chief Constable Stephen Watson QPM, was sworn in. That happened over a month ago and the report has yet to see the light of day.
Commenting Councillor Sykes said: “It is unsurprising really that Mayor Burnham, who also acts as Greater Manchester’s Police and Crime Commissioner, doesn’t want to publish this report as I understand it is critical about the culture, management and performance of Greater Manchester Police.”
“The previous Chief Constable and Andy Burnham presided over a force that failed to record over 80,000 reported crimes in a single year and that has spent a fortune on a new Police computer system, iOPs, that has proven to be a fiasco. At times, the past actions of the senior management team have seemed more akin to those of the Keystone Cops than a regional Police service.”
“The Oldham Liberal Democrats will continue to demand publication of this report and the new Chief Constable must now come up with a credible plan of action to bring about radical improvements at Greater Manchester Police to restore office morale and public confidence.”
A national Thank You Day is being organised across Britain for Sunday 4 July.
Thank You Day is a chance to come together with our neighbours, communities and families, to mark what has happened over the last year, to celebrate the community spirit that got us through and say a big thank you to all those who have helped us along the way.
Recent polls suggest up to 16 million Britons may take part in street clean ups, street parties and community barbeques.
If you would like to organise something on your street and want to seek inspiration about what to do and register your event, please find further details at
Rose varieties named after Her Majesty the Queen and her late husband HRH Prince Phillip should be planted side-by-side in Oldham’s major public parks and gardens as a tribute to our Royal Family, suggests Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE.
In a letter to Labour Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, Councillor Amanda Chadderton, and Head of Parks and Countryside, Glenn Dale, Councillor Sykes feels that, as the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee will be celebrated across the nation next year, such an action will represent a fitting tribute to mark ‘this milestone in the exemplary contribution of Britain’s longest-serving monarch, and her late and faithful husband’.
“Not only will the new rose beds be enjoyed by the many residents of our borough who already frequent our parks and gardens, but they will symbolise both our Queen’s incredible seven decades of public service, until recently with the Prince always by her side, and the continued admiration and gratitude of the people of this borough for the work and dedication of the Royal Family”.
Councillor Sykes also wants to get the borough’s residents involved in tree planting to mark the Platinum Jubilee, and has suggested a programme involving schools and community planting trees in our parks and gardens.
“Trees are good for the soul and for our environment. I think this would be a very special and wonderful project for our borough, and something that many of our residents would enjoy and value getting involved in.”
The Lancashire Walling Association will be joining us for another day of Drystone Walling on Crompton Moor.
Come and try your hand at another day of dry-stone walling. This is the perfect opportunity to have a go, and learn how to take down and re-build a dry-stone wall within the beautiful setting of Crompton Moor.
No experience is necessary, and all tools, protective eyewear, and materials will be provided.
Please dress, according to the weather, and you will require stout outdoor footwear and work gloves. Please bring a packed lunch and something to drink.
We will meet in Brushes Clough car park, on Crompton Moor, for a 10:00 am start.
