housing and development – Saddleworth Liberal Democrats

19Dec 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Oldham must break free of ‘artificial housing targets’ after government U-turn and save our green spaces

Oldham’s Liberal Democrat Opposition Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE has called on Oldham’s leaders to scrap ‘artificial housing targets’. Councillor Sykes was speaking after Housing Minister, Michael Gove MP confirmed the government would be scrapping the “mandatory targets” which have led to development plans being drawn up across Greater Manchester – including plans to build on Green Belt. Councillor Sykes said, “The government appears to have had a moment of clarity. Everyone can see that top-down housing plans are never going to work. Oldham now has an opportunity to scrap these targets which do nothing to deliver the housing we need in the places we need it. Local councils must be given the power to make the key decisions on local development. We can now save that green space for…

05Dec 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Government’s insulation failures cost Oldhamers millions

The Government’s failure to insulate Britain’s homes is leading to families in Oldham paying over £30 million more a year for their energy bills, research by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. Analysis by the Liberal Democrats shows 55% of homes across Oldham have received poor energy efficiency ratings (EPC Bands D-G) since 2008. These households pay an average of £931 more a year than those with a Band C rating. Meanwhile, those on the lowest energy efficiency ratings pay nearly £1,350 more a year. It means that in total, households in poorly insulated homes in Oldham are set to pay an estimated £30,670,638 more in energy bills a year because the government has failed to bring them up to at least a Band C rating. The government’s target is for all homes to be Band…

24Oct 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Developer short-changes Oldham

housing and development

Russell Homes, the developer who is building 265 houses and a link road on protected land in Grotton, Oldham have failed to pay £115,000 as part of the planning conditions. The payment was agreed with the Council and is called Section 106 money. The payment is meant to be used by the Council to improve the local area to offset the impact of building so many new houses and was due on day one of building works – that work started this week. The missing payment was discovered by Liberal Democrat Councillor for Grotton, Springhead and Lees, Mark Kenyon. He said: “The community, as a whole, doesn’t want this development, yet it was forced upon us. Considering the amount of money that Russell Homes will make on all these new…

19Aug 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Council must bid for brownfield development fund

Borough news, housing and development

New funding for brownfield housing development is being made available for councils to bid on and Oldham’s Liberal Democrats are calling on Oldham Council to “play a leading role” in shaping Greater Manchester’s bid. Liberal Democrat Leader and Shaw representative councillor Howard Sykes MBE has written to senior council officers urging them to ‘get the best possible outcomes’ for the borough. Councillor Sykes said, “We keep seeing developers pushing for four- and five-bedroom developments on green belt land. This style of development is doubly unwelcome because it harms the environment without providing homes for first-time buyers. Councils rarely get the financial support to drive brownfield development, so Oldham Council must seize this rare opportunity and strive to play a leading role in shaping any Greater Manchester bid.” The Liberal Democrats…

22May 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Government threatens to scrap levelling up plans days after they were announced

Borough news, housing and development, Parliamentary news

The government came under heavy criticism from councils and developers after it emerged that plans had been made to scrap their Levelling Up plans just days after the Bill was announced in the Queen’s Speech. Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader, Howard Sykes MBE said, “The government have promised to deliver a levelling up agenda for years now and when we finally see a Bill being brought forward, they’ve left themselves a sneaky hidden option to drop it all together when things get tough. Clearly ‘Levelling Up’ is just a political slogan to this Conservative government and they want to make sure they can still use it at the next General Election. “The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill commits the government to ‘levelling up missions’ around the country. These missions – which…

14May 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

No housing for social rent built in Oldham for seven years

Borough news, housing and development

After Oldham Council has accepted that no houses have been built for social rent in the borough in the last seven years, Shadow Cabinet Member for Housing Sam Al-Hamdani called it ‘a betrayal of the needs of the poor, and the Government’s claims about levelling up’. He said: “When people talk about what is needed in Oldham, they want housing that people can afford. Unfortunately, the Government has hijacked the term ‘affordable housing’, which they have defined as anything that is rented or sold at 20% below the market rate for that area. “What most people actually want to see more of are the homes defined as for ‘social rent’, in Government language, which in Oldham would normally be at around 50% of the market rate, and which is retained…

11May 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Liberal Democrats housing lead takes fight on HMOs and brownfield to Minister

Borough news, housing and development

The fight against low-quality HMOs and for more brownfield development has been raised with the Minister for Housing Stuart Andrew MP by local Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet Member Sam Al-Hamdani. He said: “We keep seeing HMOs appearing on our streets, many of them using the loophole that allows smaller ones to bypass the planning system altogether. Too often they are terribly low quality, crammed in to make the most money out of the smallest space. “At the other extreme, we keep seeing developers pushing for more and more four- and five-bedroom developments on green spaces. Councils rarely get the financial support to drive brownfield development, and have little or no legal powers to force development to take place on brownfield first.” Councillor Al-Hamdani wrote to the Housing Minister to demand…

18Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Houses off Denbigh Drive, Shaw approved despite pleas from local councillors and residents

Borough news, housing and development

Despite the best efforts of Crompton Ward Councillor Dave Murphy, speaking at February's Planning Committee the application for 42 houses was approved by Oldham’s Labour-dominated planning committee, after two Conservative members left the meeting because they had failed to put enough money in the parking meter. Despite one of the directly-affected, local residents speaking passionately to the Committee, telling them about the impact this development will have on him and his neighbours, the majority of the Committee agreed decision to approve. “The main aim of the Other Protected Open Land (OPOL) policy is that the designation is to protect it from development – but Oldham’s is out of date – which means that this type of land designation becomes a free-for-all to developers. Haven Lane was passed last year and…

07Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

So-called Conservative Government levelling up agenda is all fur coat and no knickers

Borough news, housing and development

The Conservative Government’s announcements on the "levelling-up" agenda included dropping targets for gigabit broadband across the country, on the heels of dropping high speed rail lines across the north. Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani said: “The Government has abandoned crucial targets, and failed to provide the funding needed to meet these new ones. It is a fig leaf for a Prime Minister who everyone can see for what he is.” “If the Government is serious about levelling up, why has it just abandoned plans for local high speed rail? “Why is it loading the bill for social care on to local council tax payers, particularly those like Oldham? “Why did it abandon its target for high-speed broadband to 85% of homes by 2025? “Levelling-up is just the latest Tory buzzword…

07Feb 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Liberal Democrats say residents will be safer, greener, and cleaner in their budget proposals

Borough news, environment, housing and development, road safety

Safer, greener, and cleaner, these are the watch words when the Liberal Democrats present their budget amendment proposals to the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday 8th February (6pm). Shaw Councillor Chris Gloster, Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance and Green, is looking forward to presenting the budget amendment to the committee and believes that the Liberal Democrats have come up with sensible adjustments to the budget that will have no impact on council finances but deliver maximum impact to residents whose valuable input as to what residents want to see is at the heart of the proposals. “The Oldham Liberal Democrats want to make further efficiencies in civic centre bureaucracy to squeeze out more money for our priorities, and those of the public – more cash to spend on…

Category: housing and development