A traffic safety scheme is to be introduced around Crompton House School which will include the introduction of a 20-mph speed limit on Grampian Way to Duchess Street; road humps on Duchess Street and Grampian Way; Double Yellow Lines at the corner of Fraser Street and Duchess Street and a Puffin Crossing on RochdaleRoad.
Work has already started, and Crompton Ward councillors we are working with residents to address any teething concerns that have come about as a result of the works.
We are asking if the 20-mph speed limit could include the top end of TrentRoad to address speeding vehicles around St Andrew’s Methodist Church, TopShops and of course St Andrew’s Pre-School – the scheme could also include Hawkshead Road.
A government decision to force Councils to again meet in public after May 6 whilst allowing Parliament to meet remotely represents double standards on the issue of public safety and will needlessly endanger the health of any participants, says Liberal Democrat Group Leader Councillor Howard Sykes MBE.
“We all want full Council meetings to recommence in person at the Civic Centre when it is safe to do so, but now is too soon,” commented Councillor Sykes. “We are still in the middle of a pandemic. Many of our younger residents have yet to be vaccinated and those that have received the vaccine are mostly still awaiting the protection promised by a second jab. It has proven entirely possible to take public questions and allow the public to view proceedings at virtual Council meetings during the last year. It therefore seems sheer madness to endanger lives at this time when we could stay virtual for just a little longer and return to normality later this year.”
The first meeting after May’s local elections will be the Annual Council held on 19 May. Annual Council is usually the busiest of the year as it is the meeting where the new Mayor is appointed. This year is likely to be busier than usual as two new worthy Freemen of the Borough – Frank Rothwell and Kevin Sinfield MBE – and one new distinguished Alderman – former Liberal Democrat Councillor John Dillon will also be appointed.
Councillor Sykes continued: “Given the requirement for social distancing, such a meeting, that may be attended by several hundred people, cannot be held in the Council Chamber. The only building nearby where this might be possible would be the Queen Elizabeth Hall, and even then, it would still be a logistical nightmare. On this issue, any common-sense seems to have flown out of the Government’s window. It is simply an unnecessary and unneeded distraction at a time when Oldham and other Councils should be working flat out to deal with the COVID-19 emergency and supporting residents impacted by it.”
Oldham’s Liberal Democrat Leader has given his personal backing to a new national campaign by UK100 for a post COVID economic recovery plan to employ Britain’s skilled workers to tackle climate change.
Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Leader of the Oldham Council Liberal Democrat Group, has pledged his support for Net Zero, and is pleased that his group was instrumental in ensuring that Oldham Council is ahead of the game in already making a commitment to being a zero carbon emission authority.
Commenting, Councillor Sykes said: “The Liberal Democrat Group brought forward a motion committing Oldham Council to declare a climate emergency and to taking action to tackle it. Subsequently the Council adopted an ambitious action plan to become carbon neutral by 2025 and we are also working on a cross-party basis for the Borough to become carbon neutral by 2030.”
New data released by the Place-based Climate Action Network (PCAN) has revealed that there are an estimated 2,738,410 jobs across Englandfor workers who already have the skills we need to achieve carbon neutrality. 9,629 jobs are identified as Oldham-based (https://www.uk100.org/greenjobs) .
Councillor Sykes welcomes the news and would like to see many of these jobs come to Oldham residents. “Tackling climate change would mean good, fulfilling and well-paid jobs and the possibility of establishing new businesses which are both profitable and virtuous. The post-COVID economic crisis is the perfect opportunity to provide new jobs, skills and training opportunities to those who need them the most. Government investment would be very welcome, and it would for Oldham be a silver lining in what over the last year has been a very dark and oppressive cloud.”
The new campaign will officially be launched by UK100 on Wednesday, 31st March.
The Liberal Democrat Deputy Group Leader on Oldham Council, Shaw Councillor Chris Gloster, is fuming at the cost of a letter sent to every household in the borough.
The controversial letter, jointly signed by the Labour Leader of Oldham Council, councillor Sean Fielding, and Oldham Council’s Chief Executive, Dr Carolyn Wilkins OBE, relays what the council has been doing over the past twelve months during the Covid crisis, and concludes that by ‘working together and demonstrating that community spirit Oldham is famous for, we can get back to doing the things we love sooner’.
Councillor Gloster is also the shadow portfolio holder for finance and knows how precious every Council Tax penny is. He railed against the waste of money sending out the letter represents:
“To be blunt this is an absolute waste of council tax-payers’ money. At this year’s March budget council meeting, I proposed cuts of £250,000 to the Council’s Communications budget because of clear examples of waste, and this is a prime example. This single communication to more than 90,000 homes in Oldham will have cost in excess of £70,000 in time, paper and postage to circulate. I honestly despair at this financial waste that cannot be justified in my view. What is even more galling is that the letter arrived at the same time that residents received their latest council tax bill increased yet again by this Labour Administration.”
Councillor Gloster also believes that the letter represents Labour electioneering propaganda at the public’s expense:
“Sending out such a letter at this time is so wrong. The Labour council leader is personally up for election in May, and to circulate a letter at council tax-payers’ expense to every home in Oldham encouraging residents to work together with him just days before the election is formally called smacks of electioneering.
“A former Local Government Minister once talked about ‘Town Hall Pravda’, political material put out at public expense. There is no doubt in my mind that this letter is electioneering in disguise and based on the numerous people who have commented on it to this effect, people across Oldham share the same view.”
Voluntary and community groups across Oldham can now apply for up to £500 of Respect Our Community Awards (ROCA) funding, to make a difference to their local area.
The deadline for applications is 5pm on Monday 12 April. Find out more here.
