New tram solution

Oldham Council meeting reports by RICHARD HOOTON, JENNIFER HOLLAMBY and MARINA BERRY

COUNCIL chiefs are set to urge the Government to fund trams through Oldham town centre as well as other public transport improvements.

Lib-Dems say the Government will save £8million a year in subsidy when Oldham’s loop line railway closes for conversion to tram tracks — and the cash should pay for Metrolink through Oldham and Rochdale centres.

The investment would create jobs and help regenerate the town during a crippling recession, they insist.

Plans for the Metrolink expansion and a host of public transport improvements were scuppered when they were rejected by voters throughout Greater Manchester because they would be partly paid for by a controversial rush-hour congestion charge in and out of Manchester.

Council leaders have been debating how to resurrect the proposals since the poll in December with Oldham Council now proposing its solution.

A Lib-Dem motion was due to be proposed at last night’s full council meeting — but councillors ran out of time and adjourned a debate until the next meeting.

But the Evening Chronicle understands Councillor Richard Knowles will now raise the motion at a meeting of Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority on Friday instead.

It praises GMPTA for calling a meeting in the House of Commons with Ministers and local MPs to press the case for additional public transport investment in Greater Manchester, and calls on the Government to fund the Oldham town centre tram route and other public transport improvements.

On line to break even

OLDHAM Council should have mastered its finances over the next few months, and the prediction is, it will break even by the end of the financial year.

Councillor Lynne Thompson, Lib-Dem finance spokesman, said a report due to go before Cabinet on February 17 would show the overspend had been slashed to less than £350,000 at the end of December — providing draft figures remained unchanged.

The figure is down from a whopping £3.3 million overspend at the start of the year.

This latest move is good news for the ruling Liberal Democrats, and Councillor Thompson said: “It is expected the budget will be in balance by the end of the year.”

She made the assurance that the new rosy financial position had not been at the expense of frontline services, with spending on “essentials” such as social workers and bin men clearly defined against administration costs, which, she said, had needed to be cut.


Quarry protestors left disgruntled

COUNCIL chiefs have defended their actions over controversial Birks Quarry tipping plans. Residents, up in arms over an application to tip waste at the site on the Lees/Austerlands border, attended the meeting but left disgruntled when the debate ended within minutes.

Saddleworth Parish Councillor Ken Hulme asked why Oldham Council had not made an objection before the deadline, and Councillor Steven Bashforth said it was a fiasco and could have cost £60,000 in legal fees.

But Lib-Dem Councillor Mark Alcock said a holding objection had been submitted to the Environment Agency, which allowed time for legal clarifications. A meeting will then be held to ensure all planning and environmental issues have been considered and a detailed objection submitted. The application was dealt with by planning committee, he added.

Active response

OLDHAM’S 48,372 gullies will all be cleaned out by the end of the year in a bid to cope with increased rainwater.

The pledge was made by Councillor Mark Alcock, who said the service had ceased to be reactive, waiting until problems were reported, and would instead clean out all gullies once a year, or more often if it were needed.

PEAK Park officials are to be alerted to concerns about quad bikes causing havoc on the moors above Saddleworth, and fears that horseriders and walkers on bridleways will be disturbed if off-road vehicles are also allowed to use them.

OLDHAM’S civic leaders are close to signing a 25-year private finance initiative waste management contract with Viridor Laing to provide state-of-the-art facilities at Arkwright Street, which would help to divert 75 per cent of waste away from landfill.

LABOUR councillors were angry that a resolution from a previous debate on crime had not been acted on by officers — saying they had ignored the democratic will of the council. They were told to take the issue up with officers outside of the meeting.

THE future of Voluntary Action Oldham was yesterday secured for a further 12 months, following in the footsteps of a further year’s funding for Oldham Play Action Group and Oldham Personal Advocacy Ltd.


CROSS party praise was given to executive director for environment Tom Flanagan before he departs to join Cornwall Council as corporate director for environment, planning and economy.

THE council’s legal team is in talks with Oldham College to secure the use of Grange sports pitch for community groups.


Plan of attack

THE council’s new ‘Credit Crunch War Cabinet’ has unveiled its plan of attack.

A £400,000 rapid intervention fund to help the worst-affected is a key part of the scheme.

The cabinet will produce a quarterly economic statement showing how trends impact on unemployment, benefit levels, businesses and the housing market.

The cabinet will use this information to introduce additional support like redundancy support and the improved provision of debt advice.

Councillors from all sides backed the moves. Labour Councillor Jim McMahon said: “It sounds like something out of Dad’s Army, but we are willing to back the council on this.”

Tory Councillor Len Quinn added: “Since December 2007, we have lost 1,500 jobs in Oldham and the local authority may add another 500-800 to this number with decisions it will make over the coming weeks.”


Split agreed

ROYTON and Shaw will be split into two after the council voted to scrap the Royton, Crompton and Shaw Area Committee.

Labour Councillor Tony Larkin said an injustice had been done to the people of Royton and Shaw when the Liberal Democrats decided that they should be represented on the same area committee.

He said: “We were told that bigger is better, but if it is not better for Alexandra, Coldhurst, Medlock Vale, Werneth and Hollinwood, then why is it better for Royton, which has a population of 20,000 people.”

Lib-Dem Councillor Ann Wingate said: “A review is on its way. We should wait for the results of that.”

Councillor Rod Blyth said that the moves were nothing more than an attempt by the Labour party to grab headlines, but after the meeting Councillor Stephen Bashforth dismissed it as nonsense. He said: “There was overwhelming public opinion in Royton against being joined with Shaw, and we had 600 signatures to prove it.”