Councillor welcomes progress on Huddersfield Road junction

Councillor welcomes progress on Huddersfield Road junction

Borough news, Campaigns, road safety, Saddleworth News
Plans to remodel the junction of Huddersfield Road and Stamford Road have moved a step further, with a survey of over 150 local residents whose houses are closest to the junction having gone out this week, so that planners can work with parking needs and current access. Local Liberal Democrat councillor Sam Al-Hamdani, who organised for the survey to happen, said: “People have been shocked by the two fatal incidents which have happened right outside their own houses. Just last week a car was overturned in an incident at the top of Dunham Street.  “With limited parking being a very pressing issue, I wanted to make sure that this survey took place at the start of planning – so residents’ requirements came baked into the design work. “We need Stamford Road…
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Christmas burglaries in your area going unsolved

Borough news, Saddleworth News
Figures reveal over eight in 10 Christmas burglaries in Greater Manchester go unsolved Most burglaries committed in Greater Manchester during the Christmas period go unsolved by the police, new analysis by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. 3,555 burglaries in the Greater Manchester area went unsolved by police in the period between October and December last year. Overall, 87.6% of burglary cases in the Greater Manchester area recorded between October and December over the past five years went unsolved. This compares to 84.6% burglaries going unsolved during the rest of the year. The figures also reveal there is usually a spike in burglaries over the Christmas period in the area. In the last five years, police recorded an average of 402 domestic burglaries per week in October, November and December. This…
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Anger as local Tory Councillors take credit for a scheme they tried to slash

Borough news, Saddleworth News
After trying on three separate occasions to slash the money for a community toilet scheme across Saddleworth, Tory Councillors have now tried to take credit for the scheme when it reopened after lockdown. Liberal Democrat Councillors repeatedly stopped local Conservative Max Woodvine’s plans for participants in the scheme to have their money cut in half, preserving the payments for local businesses across Saddleworth. Liberal Democrat group leader Sam Al-Hamdani said: “I was astonished when I then saw the Conservatives pretending that they were the driving force behind the scheme. I did think that they had more integrity than that, but it seems I was wrong.” The scheme, run by the Parish Council for the last decade, was on hold during the pandemic, as participating members were unable to keep the…
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Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader calls for reinstatement of Dovestones volunteer rangers

Borough news, Saddleworth News
The Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has written to the Chair and Chief Executive of the Peak District National Park Authority calling upon them to reinstate the volunteer ranger service at Dovestones Reservoir. Commenting councillor Sykes said:  “The volunteer rangers freely gave their time and commitment to looking after our countryside and wildlife, and keeping visitors safe.  At a time when we have seen more moorland fires and increasing visitor numbers at Dovestones, it must defy common sense to abolish a service, which must cost the Parks Authority very little financially, but which represents a lot of extra  ‘boots on the ground’ looking out for fires and for people.  I hope that my letter provokes a rethink and that we shall see…
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Keep Whitehall mandarins out of Peak District Park, say Liberal Democrats

Keep Whitehall mandarins out of Peak District Park, say Liberal Democrats

Borough news, Saddleworth News
The Liberal Democrats have urged the government not to transfer the management of the country’s National Parks from local elected authorities to Whitehall mandarins. Councillor Howard Sykes MBE has written to the responsible government minister, Lord Benyon, with a plea to keep control in local hands after plans leaked that National Parks Authorities could be abolished and a new National Landscapes Service created instead. Commenting, Councillor Sykes said: “Part of Saddleworth falls within the Peak District National Park, and Oldham Council has a representative on the Authority through which local councillors, and their constituents, can raise issues. If the Authority is abolished and control reverts to Whitehall, we will no longer have any say in how the park is managed. “The Liberal Democrats believe that local public organisations, like our…
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Liberal Democrats delivery on transparency promise

Liberal Democrats delivery on transparency promise

Borough news, Saddleworth News
The introduction of new standing orders for Saddleworth Parish Council has delivered a promise from Saddleworth’s Liberal Democrats to increase public involvement and transparency in the way the Council works. They have scrapped a clause from the previous standing orders which required members of the public to submit questions to the Council in writing two working days before the date of a meeting. With Council meetings taking place on Mondays, that meant that questions would in practice have to be submitted on the Wednesday of the week before. This meant that it was virtually impossible for urgent matters to be brought to the Council to be addressed. Sam Al-Hamdani, the leader of Liberal Democrats on the Parish Council, said; “Councils must be as close to the communities they serve as…
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Liberal Democrats say NO to threatened loss of Peak District National Park

Liberal Democrats say NO to threatened loss of Peak District National Park

Borough news, Saddleworth News
Local Liberal Democrats are continuing to lead the fight to protect our public green spaces. Oldham and Saddleworth Liberal Democrats are saying NO to Conservative Government plans to replace the local management of National Parks with a so-called National Landscape Service, states Saddleworth North Liberal Democrat Councillor Garth Harkness. The Conservative Government is expected to make an announcement shortly (may be after May 6) on the future of National Parks, like the Peak District, as well as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty after a two-year delay following the Glover Review in 2019. 17 April marked the seventieth anniversary of the Peak District National Park, and Councillor Harkness is greatly concerned about plans to scrap, or downgrade, the National Park Authorities in favour of a centrally controlled and distant National Landscape…
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Schools short-changed on ‘Covid-safe’ costs by Conservative Government

Schools short-changed on ‘Covid-safe’ costs by Conservative Government

Saddleworth News
The Conservative Government will only reimburse less than one-third of the overall costs incurred by English schools in making their premises ‘Covid-safe’ according to a publication published last month by a leading education think-tank. A report issued by the Education Policy Institute claims that government money made available through its exceptional costs fund will only cover 31% of overall costs, and in a survey covering 700 schools conducted in November, over half (57%) reported that they are using reserves to cover the shortfall, jeopardising their ability to achieve a balanced budget by the end of the current financial year. The EPI estimates that, since the first national lockdown in March 2020, primary schools have had to meet additional non-staff costs averaging almost £13,000. These amounted to almost £18,000 for special…
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Wool Road/Sugar Lane speed limit change

Wool Road/Sugar Lane speed limit change

Borough news, road safety, Saddleworth News
Following successful campaigns by Liberal Democrat Councillor Garth Harkness and local residents to get 20mph speed limits in Uppermill, Dobcross and Delph and a commitment for a principle of 20mph limits across Oldham borough, residents have been contacting Councillor Harkness and Al-Hamdani about the fact that the roundabout at the junction of Sugar Lane/Wool Road is in a 40mph zone. Councillor Garth Harkness said: “Suggestions to reduce this limit have been put forward so we have asked officers to look at this. An order is being processed to change the location of the speed limits, and reduce the speed limit on the roundabout from 40mph to 30.” Garth Harkness at the new 20mph zone in Uppermill Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani said: "Unfortunately the legal process is slow-moving – which is why…
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New Saddleworth School can finally happen

Borough news, Campaigns, Saddleworth News
Now that the period to call a judicial review is over the building of a Saddleworth school can finally happen. This was met with delight by Saddleworth Liberal Democrat Councillor Garth Harkness. He said “I am delighted that a new school can now be finally be built. I have always been clear from day one that I want a new school, wherever the Education Funding Agency saw it as appropriate. It has been clear for some time that that place was Diggle. “There has been a lot of strong feeling about this and at times I have been met with abuse. We now need to move on from this.” The process has gone on for over seven years and has seen a series of delays including a Judicial Review on…
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