04Aug 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Time to clamp down on parking offenders says Sykes

Time to clamp down on parking offenders says Sykes

Borough news, road safety
Oldham’s Liberal Democrat Leader and Shaw representative, councillor Howard Sykes MBE has called on Oldham Council to clamp down on persistent parking offenders. Councillor Sykes said: “Pavement parking and inconsiderate, or illegal parking is a real nuisance in our communities, especially in our town centres. I am calling on Oldham Council to get tough on repeat offenders – just as other councils have done. The only way we are going to change things is by showing people that there are consequences for being a nuisance to other people on our roads and pavements.” The Department for Transport defines a persistent offender as someone with three or more Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs). Councillor Sykes is calling for Oldham Council to seize vehicles of persistent offenders until a release fee has been…
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05Jul 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
New disabled parking spots for residents

New disabled parking spots for residents

Borough news
The wait is finally over for 30 fortunate families who will be getting disabled parking spots in the next twelve months, some of whom have been waiting for years. Officers confirmed the decision this week, after years wrangling over funding, and lengthy delays while new qualifying criteria were eventually produced. Mark Kenyon, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Grotton, Springhead & Lees, took up the cause after being contacted by a frustrated resident over a year ago and has led a campaign to provide disabled parking bays. Councillor Kenyon said: “Despite welcoming the decision by this council to provide these 30 spaces, I’m also incensed that there’s at least another 30 families who have missed out. A disabled parking spot is not a perk to be won in a council lottery, it’s…
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01Jul 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Liberal Democrats seek action on nuisance pavement parking

Liberal Democrats seek action on nuisance pavement parking

Borough news
The Oldham Liberal Democrats are proposing the Council gets ready to tackle nuisance pavement parking by preparing now for future legislation. A motion has been tabled by Lib Dem councillors Dave Murphy and Chris Gloster for consideration at the next full meeting of Oldham Council (14 July 2021). The Department of Transport carried out a consultation about pavement parking that ended in November last year. It is expected that the government will soon give local councils new powers to tackle problem parking, and the Liberal Democrats want to be ready. Councillor Dave Murphy explained: “The government consulted about a range of ‘options for change’ in the way that pavement parking is regulated. We made clear in our response that we opposed a blanket ban on all pavement parking as this…
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21Oct 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Common sense prevails in Diggle

Parliamentary news
Councillor Garth Harkness has succeeded in substituting common sense for an excessive proposal for parking restrictions in Diggle when the new Saddleworth School opens. As part of the plan for the approach to the school, council officers proposed a parking ban between 6am and 6pm Monday to Friday on Huddersfield Road between the school entrance road and the new car park. Councillor Garth Harkness said: “In response to comments from residents in the latest consultation, before the lockdown, I proposed to the council that waiting restriction times could be reduced in order to help with resident parking. The council still preferred the longer restriction, arguing that it would allow overnight parking. “Most people don’t leave their house at 6am and pupils don’t arrive at school then, so I challenged it…
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04Sep 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Parking consultation welcomed by local councillor

Parking consultation welcomed by local councillor

Borough news, Parliamentary news
After local Liberal Democrat councillor Sam Al-Hamdani wrote to the Home Office calling on them to progress the national consultation on pavement parking last month, he has welcomed its launch. He said: “For so many people, this causes major issues for them, whether it is getting past in wheelchairs, or trying to manage prams on unnecessarily blocked pavements. It should not be the case that disabled residents, or parents with young children should be forced out into the road because of a badly parked car.” The consultation puts forward three options: to improve the process by which local councils can introduce restrictions; giving them the power to enforce against ‘unnecessary obstruction of the pavement’; or introducing a London-style pavement parking ban across the country. He continued: “Oldham has a combination…
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28Jul 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Oldham has backlog of 120 requests disabled parking spaces – and enough money for five this year

Borough news
Local Liberal Democrat campaigner Mark Kenyon has discovered that Oldham Council’s budget for disabled parking spaces is only enough to provide five this year, even though the Council now has a backlog of 122 residents waiting, after none were provided last year. He said: “Residents should be told what is going on when they are applying. At this rate, it would be over 20 years before the people currently on the list would get a parking space. “The cost of getting a space put in is £3,000 per space. If it costs this much, a budget of £15,000 for the year really is a drop in the ocean. We either need to get them done for less, or get realistic about how much we would actually need to spend.” The…
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