Advertisement
McMahon defies doom-mongers
Date published: 04 March 2013
OLDHAM can’t have a positive future unless we acknowledge where we have come from according to council leader Jim McMahon, who faced a series of tough questions on BBC Radio Manchester.
Presenter Andy Crane invited Councillor McMahon — the second youngest council leader in the country — to be his Hot Seat guest on Friday.
The Labour leader spoke of his ambitions for the town, including the forthcoming Hotel Future and cinema projects, and his wish to promote the good things about Oldham.
Cynical
He said: “Oldham used to be world leaders in the cotton industry and we have people such as Winston Churchill and Annie Kenney in our history. We know things are not great right now but there are still things to be proud of. We are working hard for a better future.
“People say there are no shops in Oldham but we have the big name brands such as BHS, Debenhams, Body Shop, River Island, Next and H&M. The market hall is 97 per cent full.
“People are cynical about the future of the town because they have been let down in the past. Oldham has become a shadow of its former self and things won’t change overnight. It is my job to make it bright again.
“There is lots of diversity in the town-centre shops and I think, as a town, we have battled the recession well. Now it’s time to repair the cracks in the foundations. But it is not all doom and gloom, there is lots to be proud of.”
*For the full story sign up to the digital eChron and iChron editions or buy the newspaper.
Comments
What on earth is he on about? How is a failure to 'acknowledge' the past holding us back? what does that even mean? Before the industrial revolution there were around 60 homesteads in Oldham - it looks like it's heading back that way!
The things McMahon has said make no sense, weasel words which sound good but mean nothing. Perhaps one of his apologists like JMTS would like to offer an explanation in plain English?
And then he woke up and rubbed his eyes.
No mention of Oldham's forgotten Joseph Stott -
the man who had more of an impact on Oldham than anyone.
As an Architect he designed 100+ Lancashire cotton mills
mostly in Oldham - he designed more mills in Oldham
than Sir Christoper Wren designed churches in London.
Stott's mills include Lees Brook Mill, Coldhurst Mill,
& the former home of Oldham Brewery at Albion Mill
Oldham Council is planning some new town centre statues - where's Jo Stott's ?
mcmahon say "People are cynical about the future of the town because they have been let down in the past"
yes we are! and historically it seems to come full circle.
and the evidence its happening again is all around us.
i though jim was different. he seemed to be taking a different approach.
but he seems to have settled back into the traditional labour council leader.
ignore the publics concerns, waste far too much money. and now effectively force through things.
Oldhamers were asked to send in questions so they could put them to McMahon.After over 50 mins blowing his own trumpet he was given two text messages and then one question, yes one was put to him. The question related to the demise of the market and with it the town dying. I've never heard anyone like McMahon cough and splutter an answer that he knew he couldn't justify. How pathetic he came over then. Also according to him the market is on the edge of town not in the town centre!!!!!
Never in the field of human endeavour was so much messed up by so few for the principles of so many in power. With apologies to WSC, this council is in dire need of another Churchill to ride in and save them from the mire of despondency.
McMahon says 'there is lots to be proud of'..but fails to name any!...Thats how good things are in Oldham.
McMahon also says 'We have battled the recession well'..He obviously doesn't get out of the office much if he thinks that. He wants to stop listening to his cronies and have a proper walk around town and he will see a different picture.
By the way I thought his and Parkers letter to the editor in answer to peoples frustration about the lack of gritting to be arrogant, condecending, and rude
@skay! mcmahons and parkers letter was just a typical rude and arrogant response to what almost every single oldhamer knew.
the roads just where not gritted!
they even try to justify it by saying "look at our gps records if you dont believe us"
that means nothing. all gps records indicate is that the vehicles where out.
they may have been out but grit was not laid!
what they fail to realise is oldham has lots of hatched areas on its main road which show when grit is laid. and none was!
I'm not an apologist for Jim McMahon particularly as he has little to apologise for. He has the courage to believe that this town has a better future. History will prove him right or wrong. As I've pointed out before, the town motto under McMahon should be "spereare aude" rather than "sapere aude"
Sorry D'Gawby but the one thing we don't need is anyone like WCS. As a local MP he rarely visited his constituency giving the excuse that train fare was too high. His record as an Minister was hopeless, as PM even worse if it wasn't for the propaganda we'd be clearer about the truth.
Gallipoli was one of his as was Anzio both disasters, he opposed D Day right up to the invasion, if it hadn't been for Stalin & Roosevelt the Russians would have been in France!
What Cllr McMahon is doing is nothing more than rendering over the facade & failing to deal with the rotten foundations. But Jim & his colleagues were given a mandate by the people who make up the different wards of the Oldham Metropolitan Borough & who voted for his party. He does not care about those of us who have concerns about the costs & legacy of his ideas, because he knows he has a super majority on the Council which will be here for the next 10 years.
Churchill is the type of person we don't need,he cared nothing for Oldham it was quoted as a 'marriage of convenience to further his own ambitions' To think of it that sounds quite relevant to the present topic.
I really can't believe that people are still claiming the roads weren't gritted. Ever thought that grit is not a magic wand? The road outside my house was most definitely gritted every time the conditions warranted it but at the times we got the heaviest snow the road was covered with snow. The best thing people could do is to watch the weather forecast and plan accordingly. More people need to get up earlier; get there boots on and walk. Leaving the roads to those who most need to use them.
@JMTS you're an apologist for anything labour. Mcmahon is all talk & no action. Dependig on your viewpoint, history proves everyone right or wrong!!
@PD. I've checked the definitions. I probably am a apologist for Labour. Thank you for the compliment
@steveit. which road was that then? and at what time?
on that fateful day the snow had been forcast several days earlier.
private gritting firms started their runs the night before.
the snow gradually started to fall approximately 3am in the morning.
at 6am ripponden road, huddersfield road where not gritted and at 9am lees road and manchester road A62 where not gritted either.
grit only works if laid hours earlier before the snow falls.
if its laid when the snows falling its too late!
all these people who try to back up the council by saying the roads where gritted.
you can try and blag some who dont really know much about the subject.
but most people understand how grit actually works.
ombc has over the years reduced oldhams road capacity with endless miles of pointless traffic calming, islands and painted hatched markings.
but these areas do show up the grit when its been laid as no traffic passes over them.
on that fateful day no fresh grit was present in the morning
FLAKE, you seem to hate everyone, Labour, lib Dems, etc...How about being positive instead of being negative.
Well done Ernie, I am glad you saw through my sentiments - unlike some. It happened 100 years ago like it happens now, nothing changes, nor will it, while the short-sighted carry on with their short-term fixes! Oh, and by the way, I don't need a history lesson for the Marlboroughs & Co.
For the umpteenth time.....When is work starting on the new cinema/restaurants etc in the old Town Hall that you promised McMahon?....The silence is deafening!....Maybe you and your mate Charlie Parker could answer in a letter to the editor, as you did in your arrogant and terse reply to residents concerns about the lack of gritting in the last snowfall...By the way if the gritters were out as you say...were they driving around with no grit on board and therefore just on show to fool the public?
There is no 'hate' in my posts fitton hill, only observations, most of which can be backed up by facts.
Perhaps you'd care to take up the challenge and explain to us what McMahon actually said?
Perhaps also while looking on the sunnier side you could explain to us how wonderfully well those two parties you mention have administered the town? I'm sure there will be more people who can see the negative that the positive!
Did he explain why a Labour council would rather spend its (our) money on statues, rather than keep council staff employed?
I know he will deflect the question by blaming the government but this is not the point. Whatever amount of money you do have, from wherever, a LABOUR council has chosen to give staff their P45's & buy stautes instead & have the cheek to complain about funding cuts affecting from line services.
Labour has chosen. Cuts to jobs & service, but some nice statues to look at.
jmts. no apologies needed?have you been around the town centre
recently? did'nt mcmahon just give up his daytime job? and his idea build statues? remember the water feature in the town centre that was a really good idea? it's not history we need it's action now.so all politicians care about is their 'legacy'.
Once again, 90% of the comments on here are enough to drag anyones spirits down. Sad, sad people...when I visit my home town every few months, I bet you're all the ones with faces grim enough to make it rain.
"The older I get the better it was". Does this ring any bells? In reality it doesn't actually ring true.
Cheer up and look on the bright side of life, you've probabaly never had it so good.
Don't want to keep harping on about the same point but the proposed statues will be funded from defunct trust funds that are no longer in use for their original purposes. To say the Council would rather have statues than staff is just a pointless and completely ridiculous comment
@eddie. the fact of the matter is oldhamers have been let down time and time again.
we hear the same things from every new leader the council has.
and they are always daft ideas that never amount to anything.
and the ideas that do make it to reality always fail to impress and inevitabley actually end up being something completely different.
the neglect that i have seen over my lifetime up to now has been nothing but scadelous.
and im only in my thirties.
Yes eddie, the grim faces will be the ones unable to move away from Oldham.
I tell you what is scandalous fedupoldhamer, you're spelling!! Maybe the reason you find everything so depressing is because all you ever seem to do is see the negative in everything. Surely the proposed investment plans are something to get behind and support instead of moaning before they have even started. You can't live life in the past!!! If you're only in your thirties how many council leaders can you have actually seen???
exactly bramble, so why doesnt the council use those trust funds to keep community schemes like external lifelong learning centres or shaw baths open?
the council has cut back on well used facilities. yet then has the cheek to say they'll waste spare money on statues.
art in oldham is wasted. previous attempts prooved this.
why doesnt jim put it to the people of oldham what they really want.
maybe even a vote on it.
oh sorry!
jim doesnt know what one of those is does he!
The whole thing with trust funds is that they are set up for specific means which makes one assume that they can't be used for anything else but some kind of art. I am sure the council wouldn't do it if they could use for something else. They wouldn't risk throwing away so many votes???
bramble that has got to be the worst excuses i've ever heard. it can only be spent on some kind of art?
why doesnt the council investigate the options it has and put them to the public then?
im convinced that jims afraid of how the public of oldham think of him now he's shown his true colours.
hence the lack of democracy.
Oldham is a shadow of its former self- I hear about cinemas, and this that and the other but its just the same old- evewhere is the same. It needs to do something different to get businesses in- Cut council tax, cut rents on council industrial estates, Make oldham somewhee to invest, and all this can be funded on the millions the council spends on advsiors/and consultants. Oldham Councils miss management means it has one of the highest spends on these leaches sucking our money out of oldham
@fedupoldhamer - if you read my post properly you will see I am not making an excuse but making an assumption. The basic premise of a trust fund is that it has a specific use . Therefore I ASSUME it must be linked to some kind of art project because it couldn't be used for anything else. I imagine they have investigated these options before making the decision. There is no lack of democracy because the trust fund will already be designated for a specific theme
exactly bramble!
a specific fund.
with so many people saying jims statue ideas are rubbish.
why doesnt jim ask the people what the money is spent on.
even if its an art project!
like i've said. between yourself jmts and molly you all just apologise and make excuses for jim!
Bramble: "I tell you what is scandalous fedupoldhamer, you're spelling" ============ Hmm, 'you're spelling'. Sorry Bramble but that should be 'your spelling'.
Just a point Bramble, before you pick on other peoples spelling, check yours. "you're spelling" the apostrophe is there to replace missing letter(s). You're is short for you are. Try Your next time, and don't throw stones in glass houses.
I think if you look at the Chron on-line there is currently a poll taking place on who people think the statues should be of i.e. asking people what they want!!!
Just to point out that I made grammatical mistake and not a spelling mistake but good spot
P.S "peoples", "jims", "doesnt" and "its" should all have an apostrophe just in case you're talking about people in glass houses
Fair point, my apologies for the error!!
Have Your Say
It takes around 10 minutes of shopping in Oldham town centre, before one realizes that there is actually nothing there to entice people from outside of Oldham to come and visit.
Bury, on the other hand...
By spike @ 04/03/2013 12:55:48