Nicola White – Oldham Olympian Worthy of Civic Recognition

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The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has expressed his delight that amongst the many worthy winners of Team GB at this year’s Rio Olympics, there is an Oldham Gold Medal winner.

Councillor Sykes wants to ensure that Nicola White, a member of the Team GB women’s hockey team, receives the recognition that is due to her from her home town and Council and has written to the Leader of the Council, Councillor Jean Stretton, asking for a Civic reception to be arranged for her.

Councillor Sykes said: “Team GB’s performance at the Rio Games was spectacular with the highest medal score in history.  I was especially pleased to see Nicola White from Oldham, and her team mates, take the Gold medal for Team GB in hockey.  I congratulate them all for their splendid efforts.  It is always great when people from our Borough do exceptionally well in any field and we have a particularly long and proud history of achievement in many competitive sports.

“I have today written to the Leader asking her to join me in writing to Nicola, and her team mates, with our congratulations on her tremendous achievement, and I have also requested that, in addition to the Manchester welcome home parade, the Council should arrange a very special reception for our own very special Olympian.”

Former Cricketers PH outline planning application

1418318255The officer dealing with the above planning application has informed me of the following.

There is an outline planning application involving the demolition of the existing pub and the erection of a three storey block of 20 apartments on the site.

  • The application was made valid on 28 July 2016.
  • Letters were sent to neighbouring properties on 2 August. In addition, a site notice was posted on 5 August and a press notice on 10 August as the application is for major development. Therefore, the deadline for public comments is 31 August.
  • The 13 week target for determination of the application is 27 October.

A copy of the plans and other supporting documents can be viewed on the Council’s website via the link below (see the ‘documents’ tab):

http://planningpa.oldham.gov.uk/online-applications/simpleSearchResults.do?action=firstPage

Active Citizens’ Fund – cash up for grabs

On Monday 15 August my Active Citizens’ Fund reopens, and I am inviting community groups and organisations across Greater Manchester to apply for their share of £200,000.

Organisations can apply for grants of up to £5,000 for projects that help reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in their local area.

All the information about how to apply can be found here: gmpcc.org.uk/funding

The deadline for applications is 4pm on Thursday 22nd September.

There will also be a series of events across Greater Manchester where people who are interested in applying can come along and find out more information.

Please note, places are limited and must be booked at gmpcc.org.uk/funding:

Oldham Civic Centre, West Street, Oldham, OL1 1UT,

30 August, 2pm to 4pm.

I would be grateful for your support promoting the fund, and please pass this information on through your networks to any groups or organisations you think would be interested.

Best wishes – Tony Lloyd, Mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner

Duchess Street / Pencil Brook: Deteriorating Retaining Wall

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See attached map: Duchess Street – Pencil Brook Business’s Residential

The above wall that is shown on the attached plan is starting to deteriorate and in a few areas has started to show signs of collapse.

To minimise the risk to the Highway User, parts of Duchess Street adjacent to Pencil Brook will have to be ‘fenced – off’ to keep vehicles away from the worst areas of damage.

The Environment Agency will be removing vegetation from Pencil Brook so that a thorough survey of the wall’s overall condition can be undertaken. It is anticipated that this will be completed by the middle to the end of September 2016.

Depending on the results of the survey it may be necessary to install temporary fencing along the whole length of Duchess Street. If required, the temporary fencing will be positioned 3metres from the carriageway edge to Pencil Brook and will reduce Duchess Street to single lane traffic and this will require areas of suspension of parking.

I apologise in advance for the inconvenience that these proposals may cause, but the safety of the public is paramount and cannot be compromised.

In the meantime if you have any queries or comments then please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours faithfully,

Steve Jones,Senior Technician, Direct Line: 0161 770 1957,Email: steve.jones@unitypartnership.com

Scarr Lane, Shaw resurfacing – good news!

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I want to inform people of the latest information I have received from the Council regarding the road surface of Scarr Lane.

A number of you have been in contact with me regarding the pot holes and the general condition of the road surface on Scarr Lane over the last couple of years or so.  As some of you will already be aware, my colleagues (Councillors Blyth and Gloster) and I, have been trying to get some action to remedy the poor quality of the road surface.  I have sent numerous communications to the Highways Department along with a significant number of meetings to try and progress this matter.

Whilst it has been a long battle I finally have some good news to share!  I have received this following information from the Highways Department.

Thank you for your email, we can confirm the whole of Scarr Lane is programmed to be resurfaced, we can also confirm we will be using traditional Bitmac.

As I am sure you will agree this is a long overdue, the battle now is when as the above will happen as this commitment is for this financial year i.e. before the end of March 2017!

Whilst I have been chasing for a scheduled start date, unfortunately they do not appear to have set a date as yet.

With regards a start date for the carriageway surfacing works at Scarr Lane, I am afraid that I cannot provide this at present, the works will be completed on this year’s programme and as soon as I have a definite start date I will update you.  Kind regards – Nigel Molden, Senior Engineer, Highways & Engineering

I will continue to pursue this matter on a regular basis until I have a confirmed start date, however, as Mr Molden has confirmed above, the works will be completed on this year’s programme.  To clarify, ‘this year’s’ programme actually means by the end of March 2017 but rest assured I will be pressing for work to start in 2016.

The fight for similar action on other local roads like Linney Lane continues.

As soon as I have any further information regarding the start date I shall let people know.

Changes to the 408, 412 and 435 bus services from 5 Sept 16

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Pleased to report some minor changes to these services which reflect some of the changes I have asked for following comments by local users.

Rossendale Transport have also proposed making some changes to Monday – Saturday tendered journeys, effective from Monday 5 September which we support and are as follows:

Service Route Notes
408 Shaw – Royton – Oldham Route in Shaw revised to match the evening/Sunday route, operating from Rochdale Road, via Buckstones to terminate at Shaw, Wrens Nest.
412 Middleton – Royton – Oldham Monday to Saturday off peak service increased to hourly (currently every 90 minutes)
435 Rochdale – Buckstones Route extended beyond Hillside Avenue terminus to Shaw, Wrens Nest.

Services 408/412/435 will inter-work, allowing spare time to be reallocated to the 412.