Gay bishops given a temptation test

THE FRIDAY THING: IS it really any wonder the Church of England is developing a growing army of the formerly faithful?

First we had the fiasco of the decision not to allow women to become bishops, even though it was supported by a majority of the clergy; alongside that we have the total shambles over whether or not gay men and women can be married in Church of England churches. They can’t.

Now we have male gay bishops being told that it is all right for them to live with their same-sex partner so long as they remain celibate.

Don’t you get the distinct impression that the Church simply doesn’t know its arm from its elbow?

It is all very well for politicians to have weird and wonderful views on gay marriage (we would expect nothing less, or indeed more, of our elected representatives, but shouldn’t the church know better? It certainly used to.

If a heterosexual, married male bishop can have conjugal relations with his wife then why should a gay male bishop have to swear on oath that he will remain celibate while, no doubt sleeping in the same bed as his partner?

Throughout the history of religion, the notion of overcoming temptation has been writ large on the banner of faith and fortitude.

Maybe this new rule of celibacy for bishops is a new temptation to test them.

What is certain is that the recent goings-on in the church have severely tested the patience of those who still believe and worship.

And it is no surprise that their numbers are falling, while support for other faiths continues to grow.




Do jobs figures add up?



I AM always sceptical when politicians start talking about the number of jobs that will be created by this or that development.



Seldom, if ever, is there any final count to establish just how many jobs a project has actually created.

So it is with the exciting prospect of the Foxdenton Employment Area in Chadderton which boasts the creation of 4,000 jobs.

The 111 acres of green land earmarked for development will certainly provide jobs if homes and a new business park are given the go-ahead, but we can’t expect the good folk of Chadderton, whose homes surround this massive site, to be pleased.

Progress always has a price, but folk living in the residential areas that surround what will be a monster development will feel that it is a price too high to pay and will draw little comfort from Dave Hibbert’s assertion that if the development is not high quality and considerate of the impact on residents he will be “at the forefront of any action group against it.”

A development on the proposed scale would be good for Oldham, as was the development on the Elk Mill site at Royton, but that should have been for leisure - not shopping, which simply lured people out of Oldham town centre.

Will the development protect local residents from eyesore, noise and nuisance? Will it create 4,000 jobs? Will anyone tell us?




Rooms with a loo



HOW much is your home worth?



According to the latest figures more of us are living in homes worth a million pounds or more, and the North-West has seen the number of million pound piles rise by 633 homes in the last year to a staggering 5,586.

There are of course a few million pound homes in the borough but the latest additions to the local property market — three derelict public lavatories, rooms with a loo rather than a view — are more suited to spending a penny than a packet.

Two of the properties are in Greenfield, the third is in Denshaw and Oldham Council has put them on the market and, by all accounts, received a “steady stream” of onlookers.

There is a suggestion the former loos could be converted to business use or to a community-based facility which, after all, they originally were.

The challenge is to find a use for the loos, one that doesn’t include nefarious deeds.

People with vision, but presumably no sense of smell, are viewed as ideal buyers.