Enjoy Shaw & Crompton’s Green Spaces ….

Wildflower Planting – Sunday 10th March 2013 (1 – 3pm)

George Street Playing Field Pond, meet at the car park off Milnrow Road, opposite Bridge Street, Shaw, OL2 8BG

Come and help us plant wildflowers near the pond to encourage wildlife to the area. A variety of wildflowers will be planted in the wet meadow, including Ragged Robin. These will encourage bees, butterflies and other wildlife, increasing the biodiversity in the area. Take part, help to improve the local environment and learn about biodiversity.

Free event for all ages.

For more details contact Suzanne Walton: T: 0161 624 1444 or 07899 792 422
E: Suzanne.walton@groundwork.org.uk
www.gwor.org.uk

TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURE IN CONNECTION WITH ELECTRIC CABLE LAYING IN SHAW

Salts Street at its Junction with Crompton Way – Saturday 2nd March and Sunday 3rd March

As part of the continuing operation to lay a high voltage electric cable along Crompton Way, it will be necessary to close Slats Street at the junction with Crompton Way, such that traffic will not be able to gain access to Crompton Way. At the same time, the temporary traffic signals will be in operation.
The closure is for the weekend of 2/3 March 2013.

During work in the vicinity of the zebra crossing on Crompton Way, near to the Salts Street / Linney Lane junction, the crossing facility will remain open for use at all times.

TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURE IN CONNECTION WITH ELECTRIC CABLE LAYING IN SHAW

Milnrow Road at its Junction with Crompton Way – Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th Feb 2013

As part of the continuing operation to lay a high voltage electric cable along Crompton Way, it will be necessary to close Milnrow Road at the junction with Crompton Way, such that traffic will not be able to gain access to Crompton Way or to Milnrow Road towards Shaw. At the same time, the temporary traffic signals will be in operation.

The closure is for the weekend of 23 / 24 February 2013.

Once work has progressed past this junction and the junction is re-opened to traffic, it will be necessary to close Salts Street at its junction with Milnrow Road until the cable laying has progressed onto Linney Lane. This is necessary on safety grounds and to enable traffic flow along Milnrow Road at the junction to be more easily managed and reduce delay times. Details of this will follow in due close.

During work in the vicinity of the zebra crossing on Crompton Way, near to the Salts Street / Linney Lane junction, the crossing facility will remain open for use at all times.

Council meeting 6th Feb – Question to the Leader of the Council on Statues and Public Art

I am sure that the Leader will agree that public art in Oldham borough has had a chequered past?

Indeed I am proud that as Leader I got rid of the awful water feature in our town centre that had never worked and was a blight on our high street and an embarrassment to the Council and shoppers alike.

We will all welcome the sight of Metrolink trams running along Union Street, and we all want a good built environment, but at a time of austerity and cuts in services, isn’t it madness to spend up to half a million pounds on public art and statues?

Oldham’s Council Tax Payers, already hit in the pocket with a 3.5% rise from April, have different priorities for their hard-earned money and will simply see this as a wasteful indulgence and extravagance on the part of this Labour Administration that we can ill afford.

Howard Sykes
6th Feb 2013

Council meeting 6th Feb – Question to the Leader of the Council on the Acorn Business Centre

The Leader has made much of his recent trip to London at which prospective investors were assured that Oldham is ‘open for business’.

I was therefore very disturbed to hear that the licensees in the Acorn Business Centre in Derker have been given only a month’s notice by the Council to vacate their premises and relocate.

One businessman has told me that he feels badly let down by this Council – he describes what he considers to be (and I quote) “dirty goings on” and feels the situation is “a disgrace”.

In a heartfelt plea, his partner stated:

“We have no other property to locate to and run our company on such a tight shoe string that we would not be able to afford to relocate”.

In a press article yesterday, Cllr Hibbert said that the Acorn Business Centre is let by the Council from the owner, that it has been running at a ‘significant cost’ to the authority and requires investment.

Given this situation the Council must have decided many months ago that the lease would not be renewed, so why were the licensees not informed as soon as the decision was made and offered a package of assistance and support to successfully relocate?

By taking this course of action, this Administration has needlessly jeopardised small businesses and jobs – the very lifeblood of our local economy – and shown that it is in fact far from ‘open for business, which is a great shame.

Howard Sykes
6th Feb 2013

Council meeting 6th Feb – Question to the Leader of the Council on Town Centre Free Car Parking

We all wish to see a thriving town centre retail economy, but will the Leader:

– inform Council how much revenue will be lost to the authority at a time of cuts to Council services as a result of the free car parking initiative?

– Also will he outline the evidence that supports this Administration’s view that this represents a value-for-money measure that will bring more shoppers into our town?

– And is the most cost effective way of supporting the Oldham Town Centre?

Howard Sykes
6th Feb 2013

Oldham Liberal Democrats seek Fairer Taxes!

On Saturday 9th February, Liberal Democrats across the country including Oldham will stage a Day of Action for Fairer Tax for the people of Britain.

The Liberal Democrats believe that everyone should pay their fair share of tax. That means the people who have the most paying more than those who have less.

A Tax Cut for Average Workers

To help make that happen, we want to give a tax cut to every average worker in the country by raising the amount you can earn before paying income tax (called the Personal Allowance), initially to £10,000 a year.

So far through Liberal Democrat participation in Government, workers can now earn £8.105 tax-free a year rather than the miserly £6,475 when Labour left office in 2010!

The benefits have been felt here as 5,640 low-paid workers in Oldham have been lifted out of income tax altogether.

In April, 70,200 working Oldhamers’ will have more money in their pockets when the personal allowance rises yet again to £9,440.

And workers across the country have seen an average drop of £600 in income tax.

By continuing to campaign for £10,000 tax-free a year, Liberal Democrats will give the average worker in the country a tax cut of over £700.

A Tax Hike for the Super Rich

Liberal Democrats are proposing a number of changes to stop the super-rich being able to dodge their fair share of tax, starting with a “mansion tax” on the most expensive 0.5% of all properties.

In Government, Liberal-Democrats have also recently pressed the Chancellor to secure more resources for the Inland Revenue to chase tax evaders sheltering money in off-shore bank accounts.

Liberal Democrats continue to campaign nationally to make the super-rich pay more of the tax burden.

Why do you need our help?

The super-rich are super-powerful and those that benefit from the current system will defend it.

We need to show that most ordinary, hardworking people believe that we should have fairer tax; that is why the Liberal Democrats are asking the Workers of Oldham to join them in the Day of Action.

More information about the Fairer Tax Campaign and the Day of Action can be found on-line at: www.fairertax.org

Do you know an Oldham resident without heating or with an old heating system?

Earlier this month Oldham Council was also successful in receiving £190,000 to pay for a Heating Upgrade Scheme, this will pay for 50-75 upgrades before March (dependant on what is needed) to help people access affordable warmth in their homes.
To qualify for a new system:

• Households with old/inefficient boilers (D rated or less & working) need to be on means tested benefits to qualify for an upgraded A-rated system

• Households with NO working central heating would either have to be on benefits OR have a cold related illness to qualify for a new system

Applications will be dealt with on a first come, first served basis.

The application form is available on the Council’s website here:

http://www.oldham.gov.uk/info/200389/affordable_warmth/235/grants_and_funding

Save on your Council Tax Bills but act now!

Pay your Council Tax in 12 instalments thanks to Lib Dems in Government

Council Tax payments are currently made in 10 monthly instalments but you can now choose to pay in 12 payments to spread the cost from April 2013, thanks to national changes made by the Lib Dems in Government.

If you wish to switch to a 12 month payment schedule you must submit a request before Friday, February 22 says Oldham Council.

For further info:

• www.oldham.gov.uk
• Call 0161 770 6622
• Visit Access Oldham at the Civic Centre to request the change in person
• Send an email requesting the change to council.tax@oldham.gov.uk
• Write to PO Box 4, Civic Centre, West Street, Oldham, OL1 1UH