08Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Protect Crompton Moor and other Green Spaces call from local Liberal Democrat Councillor

Protect Crompton Moor and other Green Spaces call from local Liberal Democrat Councillor

Borough news
Crompton Moor may have featured recently on a BBC Countryfile programme as a place of beauty and wonderment, but Shaw Liberal Democrat Councillor and Chair of Crompton Moor Users Group, Howard Sykes MBE, is concerned that the protection of the moor and our borough’s other much-loved open spaces is threatened by the Council’s failure to properly publicise the local orders that prevent irresponsible behaviour. Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) allow local authorities to proscribe certain types of behaviour, imposing financial penalties upon those offenders who choose to ignore them. On moorland, a PSPO would typically prohibit the lighting of fires, the use of Chinese lanterns and irresponsible cycling and motor-cycling other than on certain defined routes, and place certain restrictions on dog-walking, hunting and dog fouling They are intended to…
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05Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
‘Leaving our nature be is best plan for recovery’, says Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader

‘Leaving our nature be is best plan for recovery’, says Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader

Borough news
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority is consulting the public on its proposed Nature Recovery Plan with a closing date for responses of 7 March. Liberal Democrat Leader Councillor Howard Sykes MBE is encouraging local people to respond; in the meantime, he has some sage words of advice ‘leave our nature be!’ Councillor Sykes is dismayed by the fact that the consultation is being conducted by the same authority that is responsible for the failed Greater Manchester Spatial Framework and is now developing a new Places for Everyone plan for the nine Greater Manchester authorities, eight Labour-led and one-Conservative, which remain wedded to rolling out a series of large-scale housing schemes on green belt sites throughout the city-region. Commenting, Councillor Sykes said: “Our natural environment, whether a local park, a green…
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01Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Budget: Don’t Scrap Green Homes Grant, Lib Dems tell Chancellor

Budget: Don’t Scrap Green Homes Grant, Lib Dems tell Chancellor

Parliamentary news
Ahead of Wednesday’s budget Wera Hobhouse MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Climate Emergency, has written to the Chancellor imploring him not to scrap the Green Homes Grant scheme. According to reports the Government is to withdraw funding for the scheme that aims to support people in retrofitting their homes to cut bills and reduce emissions. Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Climate Emergency Wera Hobhouse MP said: “In the year the UK is hosting COP26 – the most important climate negotiations since the Paris Agreement, the Conservatives must not undermine our legitimacy on ambitious climate policy. For the sake of those in fuel poverty and the UK's efforts to stop the climate crisis, the Green Homes Grant must not be scrapped. “Retrofitting homes is vital in the fight to tackle…
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06Feb 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Our pledge to make Oldham Borough “healthier, greener and cleaner”

Our pledge to make Oldham Borough “healthier, greener and cleaner”

Borough news
The Oldham Liberal Democrats will be proposing in their amendment to Labour’s 2021-22 Council Budget measures to make Oldham a ‘Healthier, Greener and Cleaner’ Borough. They have found cash to invest in: three much needed new health centres for Shaw and Crompton, Saddleworth, and Chadderton;make Oldham Council greener and more energy efficient;improve pavements;and tackle speeding, anti-social behaviour, fly-tipping and dog-fouling across communities. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition, and Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance and the Green agenda, Councillor Chris Gloster, will be first presenting the Liberal Democrat’s Budget Amendment to the Council’s Performance and Value for Money Committee when it meets on 9 February, for pre Council scrutiny before tabling it for consideration by the Full Council when it debates the budget on 4 March. Over the next five…
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17Dec 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Flood approach in Saddleworth questioned by Liberal Democrats

Flood approach in Saddleworth questioned by Liberal Democrats

Borough news
With winter in sight, flooding issues are increasingly a concern for people in Saddleworth. With questions being raised about the approach taken by the Borough Council, the Liberal Democrats on the Parish Council have asked for the evidence that is being used by Oldham Borough Council to make decisions. They have asked the Borough Council to provide proof that their approach to cleaning drains and gullies works, given the conditions faced in Saddleworth; for the information that OMBC is using to check the impact of housebuilding in Saddleworth on flooding; and how they’re keeping an eye on locations which flood frequently, and what measures they use to address them. Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani said: “This is such a concern to people in Saddleworth, and we want to see is…
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17Dec 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Liberal Democrat Leader’s welcome for promise of a town centre powered by Oldham’s industrial past

Liberal Democrat Leader’s welcome for promise of a town centre powered by Oldham’s industrial past

Borough news
The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has welcomed news that Oldham Council’s Towns Fund application for £41 million includes a commitment to powering the town centre with geothermal heat from former coal mines. In October 2014, Councillor Sykes first asked the then Council Leader if officers could investigate this possibility and six years on it appears, they are doing so. Councillor Sykes said:  “Anyone who has gone into Gallery Oldham and looked at Squire Knott’s photographic panorama of our historic town centre will have seen that there are coal mines scattered amongst the buildings.  In nineteenth- century Oldham, coal was the lifeblood of our textile and engineering industries, and many people lived and worked cheek-by-jowl with a pit.” Oldham’s mills and…
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29Sep 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Stalled talks with EU threaten climate action, Lib Dems warn

Stalled talks with EU threaten climate action, Lib Dems warn

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats have called on the Government to join the EU Emission Trading Scheme as part of a package of policies to “build a green recovery and tackle the climate emergency.” The proposal, agreed as part of the Green Recovery motion at the Party’s Autumn conference, come as talks between the EU and the UK on a free trade agreement failed to make progress with environmental standards cited as a major stumbling block. Liberal Democrat Climate Action Spokesperson Sarah Olney has warned Conservative Ministers struggling to cut deals with the EU are "risking that recovery and abandoning the duty on all of us to tackle the climate emergency." The Liberal Democrats are arguing that the UK should open talks to secure post-Brexit entry to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme,…
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24Sep 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Taxi enquiry comes up trumps

Borough news
Crompton Liberal Democrat Councillor Dave Murphy was delighted to hear recently that Oldham Council will be acting on his suggestion that taxi exhaust emissions be properly tested to ensure they do not pose an undue hazard to human health. Councillor Murphy, who carries out MOT tests in his professional life in the motor vehicle industry, posed a question at the last full meeting of Oldham Council asking why the emissions of private motor vehicles are routinely checked using specialist equipment, yet the assessment on taxis only involved a ‘visual test’. Councillor Murphy said: “Taxis are driven many more miles per year than an average motor vehicle, they are on the road for longer and their engines are idled for longer periods of time so a taxi could cause a lot…
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31Aug 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Day-burning lamps a waste of money

Day-burning lamps a waste of money

Borough news
Liberal Democrat Councillors have hit out at waste of money with an increased number of daylight burning lamps. Councillor Garth Harkness said: “During summer I witnessed and reported several daylight burning lamps across a variety of villages in Saddleworth. I know Liberal Democrat colleagues in Shaw and Crompton have done the same. “When the PFI contract was awarded to EON some years ago the Liberal Democrat group was rather critical about the process. At the time one of the many things we questioned was daylight burning lamps. We were told that these lamps would burn for about the first 24 hours and then would not be a problem. Clearly they are and wasting money and energy.” Liberal Democrat Councillor Diane Williamson, Crompton, said: “We were told that in the unlikely event of a daylight…
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12Aug 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Making a green difference – 95% drop in single-use plastic bags welcomed

Making a green difference – 95% drop in single-use plastic bags welcomed

Borough news, Campaigns, Parliamentary news
The Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has welcomed recent news that sales of single-plastic bags at major supermarkets in England has dropped 95% since the 5 pence charge was brought in. The Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has published date that shows that the main supermarket retailers sold 226 million bags in the 2019/20 financial year compared to an estimated 7.6 billion bags handed out for free in 2015. Commenting Councillor Sykes said: “The introduction of a 5p charge for disposable single-use plastic bags was a Liberal Democrat policy in the Coalition Government. We wanted to introduce this to tackle the culture of shoppers routinely asking for a free bag and then disposing…
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