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Local councillors resign from the Liberal Democrats in disagreement over the Saddleworth School move
Two members of Saddleworth Parish Council have resigned from the Liberal Democrats in opposition to the proposed move of Saddleworth School to Diggle. Cllr. Mike Buckley, leader of the Save Diggle Action Group, and Cllr. Lesley Schofield, have both campaigned for the new school to be built on the present site in Uppermill.
Cllr. Buckley explained the reasons for his decision. “I joined the Liberal Democrat Party because I believed the Party was committed to protecting Saddleworth from excessive and insensitive development. We have always campaigned locally with this as one of our main manifesto pledges, recognising that the people of Saddleworth want to see its green countryside and villages maintained and passed on, unspoiled, to future generations.”
“The planned move of Saddleworth School will destroy the character of a beautiful Saddleworth valley. Thirteen acres of farmland will be sacrificed for no good reason than it’s easier to build on the open countryside than on an already developed site in Uppermill. An open valley will give way to a three storey glass block, a huge new sports hall and two large playing fields created by bulldozing the natural contours of the valley. The whole will be surrounded by an oppressive 2 metre high metal fence. Extensive highway engineering of the only access road will totally destroy its village character. The rural setting of the canal and its popular towpath walk will be lost forever.”
“This is too high a price to pay for convenience and expediency. However, my fellow Liberal Democrats do not seem to see it this way. I expected that, as representatives of those affected, and being a party of opposition on Oldham Council, they would have challenged the decision by the Council to relocate the school on Saddleworth’s open countryside. Instead, ignoring local opinion, they have closed ranks with their Labour colleagues in full support of the Oldham plans. Their manifesto commitments to protect Saddleworth from inappropriate development now ring very hollow. Consequently, I now feel I do not wish to remain in a party that has closed its ears to local views and has cast aside its principles so conveniently.”
“I will continue on Saddleworth Parish Council as an independent councillor seeking to defend and protect Saddleworth and represent the views of those I represent.”
Cllr. Schofield said: “My allegiances have always been with the people of Saddleworth – I am determined to do what is in the best interests of the district. Over the siting of the school, the Liberal Democrats have shown that they are willing to ride roughshod over the views of local people, and instead prioritise unquestioning loyalty to Labour run Oldham Council.”
“Both of my children received an excellent education at Saddleworth School. But I know there are challenges facing the school. Owing to chronic under-investment many of the buildings now need rebuilding, and I fully support this. It has been shown that the school can be rebuilt on the present site, and this is the policy which must be argued for. The question is not whether the school should be rebuilt but where it should be rebuilt. The Liberal Democrats and Oldham Council believe this should be on acres of unspoiled green fields, I believe it should be on the existing brownfield site.”
“The Liberal Democrats are not capable of adequately representing the people of Saddleworth and it is for this reason that I will serve as an independent member of the Parish Council.”
The views and comments listed below do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the editor.
Related stories:
Debbie Abrahams will not oppose moving Saddleworth School to Diggle
Parish Council asks OMBC to consider an alternative scheme for Saddleworth School
Public anger grows following Saddleworth Parish Council’s U-turn
Saddleworth School Update: Option agreement signed – work on planning submission starts
Saddleworth’s Independent Councillors say consider the views of 3000 residents
Extravabandza at Diggle Band Club
Free entry! Five bands! Hot food! Prize raffle! Saturday 28th December – Doors from 7pm. EXTRAVABANZA! Non-Skills, Cherry Hintons, Film Extras, Drums & Wires, Cotton Famine Road.
Today’s Weather
Photo: Stuart Coleman©2013
Today’s weather Wednesday 19th December 2013.
An unsettled afternoon is expected with showers. Some of the showers are likely to be heavy with hail, sleet or snow and may merge to give a longer spell of wintry conditions during the evening with accumulations of 0-2 cm and 2-5 cm in any longer spells of snow on high ground. Road surfaces are likely to fall below freezing under wintry showers and after dark under clear spells. Overnight will generally see variable amounts of cloud with the risk of a few rain or sleet showers. Mainly dry with sunny spells on Friday morning.
Walk or ride in the South Pennines over Christmas and the New Year
Walker on Marsden Moor
Blow away the winter cobwebs with a walk across the tops or an exhilarating cycle ride in the South Pennines this Christmas and New Year.
At this time of year the lists of jobs to be completed, from getting the last few Christmas bits to preparing for parties, can become all consuming but it can also be a time to enjoy a change from the usual work routine and even an opportunity to get out and about in the countryside. Now the trees have shed their leaves the landscape, especially the woodlands, looks very different and offers a fresh perspective this time of year.
And over Christmas and the New Year there is a number of cycling events and organised walks, some with a festive theme, taking place in the South Pennines. In addition, for those who may wish to explore independently the Walk, Cycle, Ride website at www.walkridesouthpennines.co.uk has hundreds of rides and walks making it an invaluable free online resource.
This weekend there’s the opportunity to celebrate the winter solstice with an early morning walk. Michael Isherwood, a volunteer at Marsden Moor National Trust and Adventure Based Learning Centre, explained: “It’s that time of year again when we get up early and brave the elements to walk to an ancient site or viewpoint to watch the sun rise on the shortest day of the year.
“The exact location of the walk and start time are to be confirmed depending on the ability of the walkers who book to make sure it is as inclusive as possible. It will be an early start though; maybe as early as 6am,” he warned.
The winter solstice walk will leave the Adventure Based Learning Centre, Tanners Mill, Greenfield on Saturday, December 21. It is a free event but booking is essential. For further details visit the website at www.adventurebasedlearning.org.uk
For those interested in industrial heritage there will be a guided walk around the Saltaire World Heritage Site, on Saturday, December 28. It will depart at 2pm from outside the Visitor Information Centre at Salts Mill and costs £4 per adult and £3 per child.
Having walked off the Christmas calories there’s also plenty of opportunity to welcome in the New Year with guided walks in the South Pennines. A short flat family Fun Hat and Wig Walk will set off from Bingley Arts Centre at 12.30pm on Wednesday, January 1.
There will also be a Marsden New Year’s Day walk setting off from the railway station at 11am. Everyone is welcome to celebrate the start of 2014 and enjoy views of Marsden in winter on this family friendly walk. As on all theses winter walks participants are asked to wear suitable outdoor clothing and sturdy footwear.
For anyone interested in the history of Luddendenfoot there will be a guided walk organised by Calderdale Heritage Walks. Participants are asked to meet David Cant outside the Civic Centre, Station Road, at 2pm on Sunday, January 5. The walk will cost £3 per person.
Although only hardened cyclists venture out during the winter months for longer rides there are one or two cycling events over the festive period to either join or watch. Ladies can partake in a steady 11 mile ride on the towpath from Hirst Lock to East Riddlesden Hall, Bingley this Saturday, December 21. Places can be booked at www.goskyride.com for the ride that starts at 10.30am.
On Sunday, December 22 there will be a Christmas Fancy Dress cyclo-cross event at Heptonstall in aid of the Air Ambulance. Classes will include under-12s, seniors, juniors, veterans and women. Cyclo-cross is also a good spectator sport for those not wishing to take part. Also this Sunday, December 22, there will be a cyclo-cross event in Rossendale, at Edgeside Park, Lancashire with classes from 11am.
And the following Sunday, December 29, there will be a cyclo-cross event at Centre Vale Park, in Todmorden. This event is part of the Yorkshire Points series and features classes for youth, under-12s, women’s and veteran’s as well as junior’s.
“There are so many opportunities to go out into the countryside, either by bike, on horseback or on foot, to enjoy the South Pennines landscape this Christmas and New Year,” said Mark Turner, director of Pennine Prospects, rural regeneration company that organises the annual South Pennines Walk and Ride Festival.
“If you’re stuck for ideas why not join one of the many guided events taking place or visit the walk, cycle, ride website which has hundreds of routes to choice from,” Mark added. “The South Pennines Walk and Ride Festival, which proved bigger and better than ever before this September, may be over for another year but the online resource is still there for everyone to enjoy.”
Next year’s South Pennines Walk and Ride Festival will take place between Saturday, September 6 and Sunday, September 21.
Saddleworth Christmas Illuminations Results 2013
BEST ILLUMINATED PUB
Winner Swan Inn, The Square, Dobcross
Second Prize Cross Keys Inn, Running Hill Gate, Uppermill
BEST ILLUMINATED SHOP WINDOW
Winner NK. Hair Studios, High Street, Uppermill
Second Prize Studio Five, New Street, Uppermill
Highly Commended Face & Beauty, Oldham Road, Grotton
BEST DECORATED SHOP WINDOW
Winner Eden, High Street, Uppermill
Second Prize Shear Perfection, King Street, Delph
BEST ILLUMINATED LARGE RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY
Winner Mr Ian Taylor, Summerhill View, Denshaw
Second Prize Mr & Mrs Robinson, Church Road, Uppermill
BEST ILLUMINATED MEDIUM RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY
Joint Winner Mr & Mrs Hall, Claytons Close, Springhead
Joint Winner Mr & Mrs Percival, Claytons Close, Springhead
Highly Commended Mr & Mrs Hughes, Fern Close, Springhead
BEST ILLUMINATED SMALL RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY
Winner Mr & Mrs Morris, The Square, Dobcross
BEST ANIMATED DISPLAY
Winner Mr Kershaw & Ms Whalley, Lowerfields, Dobcross
COMMUNITY PRIZE
Winner Dobcross Village
Second Prize Claytons Close, Springhead.
NEWCOMERS COMMUNITY PRIZE
Winner Gloucester Drive, Diggle
Second Prize Sunfield Drive, Diggle.
The Saddleworth Christmas illuminations competition is organised by the Saddleworth Parish Council.
Diggle children celebrate Christmas and say farewell to their village green
Cross party agreement sought for new schools
Jim McMahon, Leader of Oldham Council
Oldham Council’s Cabinet Member for Education, Employment and Skills Cllr Amanda Chadderton and Leader Cllr Jim McMahon will be putting a motion to the Full Council meeting next Wednesday (18 December) calling for greater Government support for Oldham’s schools.
The motion, which laments the “severe curtailment” of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, proposes a series of resolutions to provide the best facilities for Oldham’s secondary schools, many of which had to scrap plans to be replaced or refurbished after Education Minister Michael Gove axed the Labour school investment policy in 2010. Nationally, this left improvements at 715 schools unable to go ahead.
In particular, Oldham’s Labour administration is concerned about Saddleworth School and Royton & Crompton School, which would have been replaced by BSF, and Hathershaw, Blue Coat and Crompton House, which would have undergone extensive upgrading and refurbishment.
It was announced this year that Oldham Council would be working towards building a new Saddleworth School under the new Priority School Building (PSB) programme, with the aim of opening in 2014. To achieve this, they are collaborating with the Education Funding Agency which is managing this project for the Department for Education.
Though some members of the community in Saddleworth have expressed a preference for this to be built on the existing school site in Uppermill, feasibility studies across 11 possible sites have brought an area in Diggle out on top. This decision was recently supported by a voluntary technical group of ward and parish councillors, council officers, school representatives and members of the public, which was tasked with determining which available location would be most achievable in the available timescale and budget and capable of providing the best possible learning environment for students.
Cllr Chadderton said, “Though it is excellent that we are very close to having funding and plans for a new Saddleworth School fully confirmed, Royton & Crompton School is still no longer fit for purpose and there are many urgent repairs and upgrades needed across Oldham’s secondary school estate. Hopefully, this motion will allow us to lobby Government for greater funding and freedoms to give young people across the borough the best possible educational experience.”
Cllr McMahon said, “With our best ever GCSE results this year and an A-Level pass rate of over 98%, Oldham’s young people are achieving great things academically. As a local authority, we want to make sure that we do everything we can to support that.”
Related stories:
EFA will consider the views of local people when deciding on site for Saddleworth School
Site for new Saddleworth School Confirmed
Saddleworth’s Independent Councillors say consider the views of 3000 residents
OMBC Approves School Plans
SDAG mount legal challenge against Saddleworth School planning applications
David Gest brings Rhythm and Blues to Oldham
Sheila Ferguson
Event: David Gest’s Legends of Soul Live Concert
Where: West St, Oldham, OL1 1QJ
When: Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Time: 7.30pm
An all-star line-up of rhythm and blues legends comes to Oldham’s Queen Elizabeth Hall.
The original Grammy Award-Winning Temptations lead singer Dennis Edwards (‘Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone’ & ‘I Can’t Get Next To You’) performing with The Temptations Review, Percy Sledge (‘When A Man Loves A Woman’), Candi Stanton (‘You Got The Love’ & ‘Young Hearts Run Free’), CeCe Peniston (Finally), the Three Degrees original lead singer Sheila Ferguson (‘When Will I See You Again’), Shalamar lead singer Jody Watley (‘Lookin’ For A New Love), Rose Royce original lead singer Gwen Dickey (‘Car Wash’ & ‘Wishing On A Star’), Stax Records legend Eddie Floyd (‘Knock On Wood’), Philly soul great Eddie Holman (‘Hey There Lonely Girl’) and in his first UK tour, ‘Rock ‘N Roll Hall Of Fame’ icon, Little Anthony (‘Tears On My Pillow’ & ‘Goin’ Out Of My Head’) are among those on the star-studded bill of ‘David Gest’s Legends of Soul Live Concert!’.
The musical spectacular on Wednesday, February 19, 2014, at Oldham Council’s flagship venue will see Gest bring ten master artists who have collectively sold more than 100 million records.
The legendary producer and television star – who graced our screens on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here in 2006 – will also be teaming up with soul songtress Candi Stanton in a bid to hunt for a UK talent who will be signed to record a new single with the renowned singer – which will be produced by Gest himself.
He will be bringing up members of the audience who will have the chance to sing with the ‘You Got The Love’ singer and show off their vocal talents – which could lead to bigger things for one lucky talent.
Queen Elizabeth Hall offers more than 15,000 square foot of space capable of accommodating up to 1,500 people for a stand-up concert.
Tickets are priced from £26 each and are available by either calling the Box Office on 0161 770 4083 or visiting www.queenelizabethhall.com
Diggle B Band’s Christmas Concert
Metrolink fares to rise
The annual Metrolink fares review has been agreed by members of the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee.
In line with the agreed financial strategy that underpins Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s established major investment programme, Metrolink fares will rise by 4,2% in January 2014. This, according to TFGM, is to meet operating costs and to contribute towards the £1.5 billion Greater Manchester Transport Fund, which is investing in extensions and improvements to the network.
Details of specific 2014 ticket prices will be available on the Metrolink website – www.metrolink.co.uk – from Monday 9 December.
The TFGM Comittee say that in line with customer feedback and the launch of smart ticketing on the Metrolink network in 2014, the changes being made within that overall average are focused on making fares simpler, more consistent and more transparent. Quarterly season tickets and four-adult day Travelcards will also be withdrawn as part of a commitment to offer a range of tickets consistent with other modes of transport.
Councillor Andrew Fender, Chair of the TfGM Committee, said: “At a time when local authorities are facing significant budget pressures, it is vital that Metrolink can cover its own operating costs without any burden on the public purse. The Retail Price Index indicates how much operating costs have changed in the past year in real terms, and fares increase by that level to meet those costs. Put simply, what cost £100 last year now costs £103.20, and that needs to be accounted for.
“But Metrolink is, of course, in the midst of unprecedented investment, growth and exciting change: by 2016, the network will have trebled to 60 miles in size, with 94 trams serving 93 stops across a number of new lines. At the same time, we are in the final stages of replacing all 32 of the original trams with brand new vehicles as part of a near-£200 million fleet investment, and we’ve opened a second, state-of-the-art depot and operational HQ in Trafford.
“The Victoria, St Peter’s Square and Deansgate-Castlefield stops are also about to be transformed as part of the Second City Crossing. Metrolink fares continue to offer value for money, particularly for season ticket holders.”
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Greater Manchester powers ahead with electric vehicle charging network
Opening date revealed for new Exchange Square Metrolink
Greater Manchester announces plans for ‘Beelines’ – the UK’s largest cycling and walking network
Christmas festivities in Oldham
The Christmas festivities continue in Oldham Town Centre all this week, culminating in the free Winter Wonderland at the weekend.
On Tuesday 10th December enjoy Christmas favourites from Oldham Music Centre’s award-winning senior ensembles at the Queen Elizabeth Hall £7, £5 concessions. Start is 7.30pm. A day later it is the turn of the youngsters with the Junior Christmas Festival. A fun and informal evening with the Music Centre’s younger students at the same venue. Cost £5, £2.50 concessions. Start is 7.30pm.
Babushka is running from Thursday 12th to Saturday 21st. Oldham Children’s Theatre present its new panto at Oldham Library. Plus the chance to see Santa after the show! Costs £5.50 to £9, times vary.
Saturday 14th December sees SpongeBob Square Pants in Spindles Town at various times 11am, 12.30, 2, 3 and 4pm. Plus free face painting for children throughout the day. There is also festive fun in Tommyfield Market. Free children’s face painting and balloon modelling throughout the day. And from 1pm–4pm join in Christmas Card Making for over 16s at Gallery Oldham. Free – just drop-in.
On Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th December the town centre welcomes the free Winter Wonderland.
Running daily from 10am until 5pm – be ready for a huge weekend of larger than life entertainment. Take off your shoes and jump into the belly of the UK’s biggest Snowman Bouncy Castle! You won’t be able to miss our oversized inflatable on High Street! Arctic explorers and snowball sprites will be roaming round the town centre accompanied by giant jumping penguins and magical flapping ice birds
Snow will be falling on High Street, whatever the weather, and don’t forget parking is free for three hours at all Council car parks on Saturdays and Sundays or, you can stay in the Shopping Centre car parks for just £1 for three hours on Saturdays or for free for 4 hours on Sundays.
Weather forecast for tonight
Mammatus Clouds over Bingley (Photo: M. Hartshome)
A cold, cloudy but largely dry day. Road surfaces will be close to or just below zero in the early evening to the north and east side of Oldham. Cloud will then thicken through the evening bringing some outbreaks of rain, sleet and snow, and milder temperatures. However they may be a period where precipitation will be falling on to frozen surfaces causing some patches of ice and temporary accumulations of snow. By midnight any wintry precipitation should have turned back to rain and road surface temperatures will have recovered back above zero, melting any snow and ice. It will become drier later in the night but remain rather cloudy, with some hill fog.
For a more detailed weather forecast go to http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/
Letter to the editor: For ‘Open Space’ in Diggle read ‘Building Opportunity’
Dr Cox lighting children”s candles at the 2012 Christingle, Diggle (Photo: Stuart Coleman©2012)
Recent planning decisions and proposals for development in Diggle reveal how rapidly the character and identity of a village can be threatened by the urge to exploit land which has for centuries been taken for granted as part of the green heritage of the community.
For over a year the Diggle Community Association has been struggling to resist the proposal to build houses on Diggle Village Green (land adjacent to Huddersfield Road opposite the Diggle Chippy). After a year of legal arguments between the DCA and First Choice Homes Oldham (the owners of the land) Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council’s Commons Registration Committee has now rejected the application to register the land as an official village green, giving the green light for the bulldozers to move in and development of the site to begin in the New Year.
The land was acquired by Saddleworth Urban District Council on the eve of the First World War as part of its efforts to provide Council Housing for local people and the little patch of land left over after the construction of Moor Crescent seems to have been left for the residents to use to hang out their washing and for general recreation. Although FCHO employed a barrister from a prestigious Manchester Practice to mount their objection to the case for registering the land as a village green their claims, which included denying that Diggle was ‘an entity known to law’ and therefore not ‘a coherent community’, were not accepted in the Report prepared for the Committee by the Council’s legal advisors. Nonetheless the Council, following recent legal precedents, rejected the application on the basis that – when the land was acquired by Saddleworth Urban District Council – it was obtained with a view to providing an ‘Open Space’ for use by the community. Because residents had been using the land with the effective permission of the original and subsequent owners they were not using it ‘as of right’ and so it could not be viewed as a village green.
Commenting on the decision Nick Cox, who made the application and fought the case on behalf of the DCA said: ‘it is bitterly ironic that land which was, according to OMBC, originally intended to be ‘Open Space’ for use by the people of Diggle has now been taken from that very community and given over for development on the grounds that it was provided on that basis’. ‘If, as the Council argue, the land was laid out as open space for residents that would certainly have been in keeping with the spirit of the very early provision of local authority housing in Saddleworth, in which the health and well-being of the occupants of the houses being built by the District Council in the pre- and inter-war period was uppermost in the planners’ minds. By contrast OMBC’s planners and lawyers have really done all they can to enable the development of a small piece of land which was a real focal point for the community. On 8th December we will be holding the last ever Christingle service around the Christmas tree erected on the site, it’s earmarked for felling when development work starts and we have no other site as yet for this community event next year’.
The loss of the Village Green would, in any circumstances, have been a blow to those seeking to defend green space in the village but it comes at a time when green land close to the Huddersfield Narrow Canal at Ward Lane, owned by OMBC, has been earmarked for a development of ‘aspirational homes’ and a bitter dispute rages over plans to site a replacement for Saddleworth School on fields in front of the former Shaw’s Pallet Works adjacent to Huddersfield Road. If built, the school would occupy the field to the right of the former Pallet Works as seen from the road with sports facilities and playing fields being developed on green belt land in the Diggle valley towards Uppermill. Local opponents of the proposal to build a new school on the site argue that increased traffic, an unattractive two and three-storey building abutting the main road and the overloading of the village infrastructure it will give rise to are all strong arguments against the proposal. In the light of the development of the village green, though, the school proposal looks like another instance where a commitment to protect and secure ‘open space’ has been abandoned. The fields that would be absorbed by the proposed school development have been designated as green belt for the reason that they provide a green space that supposedly secures the integrity of Saddleworth’s villages and the rural character of the district. If the school were built according to the current plan, the open character of the village as it is entered from the Uppermill direction would be destroyed and the clear, green break between the two villages which helps to define their distinctiveness will be eroded.
With development seeming to encroach on Diggle from all sides, it is not surprising that anger within the community is growing about the extent to which its views and interests are acknowledged or respected. Local residents fear that the open spaces they have long cherished are increasingly vulnerable as opportunistic developers and a remote and unresponsive local authority conspire to degrade the landscape.
Executive Committee, Diggle Community Association
The views and comments expressed in letters to the editor do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the editor. Letters may be edited.
Gallery Oldham showcases the work of Albert Adams
Self Portrait: Woodcut
Gallery Oldham is delighted to be able to showcase the work of one of the most important artists to emerge from South Africa in the 20th century. The work of Albert Adams, from the collection of the University of Salford, will be on show from November 30 until April 19.
Albert Adams was born near Johannesburg in 1930, the child of Indian and Cape Coloured (mixed race) parents. His mother, who worked as a domestic servant, was not allowed to have her children with her so he was brought up initially by another family and later by his grandmother.
Albert’s artistic talent was recognised early on but he was growing up in Apartheid South Africa, where students of different races were not allowed to study together, and black students not allowed to take life drawing classes. Instead Albert went to teacher training college, paying his way by working as a shop sign writer. Here he was lucky to meet two German refugees from Nazi Germany who recognised and encouraged his talent.
He won a scholarship to the Slade School of Art in London in 1953 and another to Akademie der Bildenden Kunste in Munich. Here he met the great Austrian expressionist Oskar Kokoschka who, along with Francisco de Goya, had a profound influence on his work. Albert returned to South Africa after attending Slade but by 1960 was back in London, where he remained for most of his life.
The exhibition at Oldham includes a number of oil paintings from these early years, including engaging colourful portraits of friends, such as Miss Rhoda Samuels and a striking early woodcut self-portrait from 1958.
Apart from his monumental work South Africa 1959, which is in Johannesburg Art Gallery, Albert’s work rarely engaged with the issue of apartheid in an obvious, literal way. Instead he often explored human violence and oppression as part of the universal human condition. Prints such as ‘Cell’ and ‘The Prisoner’ may have had a personal resonance for Albert as three of his cousins served long prison sentences for political activities, one of them with Nelson Mandela on Robben Island. In later life he returned many times to the image of the Ape in paintings and prints and many of these are included in this exhibition.
The show also includes a number of personal items from Albert’s collection, including a collection of Indian Monkey masks, related to the Hindu god Hanuman.
In 2005 Albert said, “When I visited India for the first time, I discovered that I had an enormous relationship with the land – mostly visual. I looked at the people and thought how closely I resembled them.”
Albert was interested in exploring his Indian and African heritage and the exhibition includes sculptures such as Mende masks from Sierra Leone and Indian embroidered textiles from his personal collection.
Councillor Jean Stretton Cabinet Member for Cooperatives and Neighbourhoods, said, “Gallery Oldham is once again showcasing the work of a major international artist, which cements its reputation as an outstanding venue and a place people will want to visit.”
The collection was given to the University of Salford by Albert Adams’ partner Edward Glennon, through the Art Fund. Gallery Oldham Curator, Dinah Winch, will be giving a talk on December 11 at 2pm. This is free and there is no need to book.
There will be a special event to celebrate our winter season of exhibitions on Saturday, February 1st when the gallery will host several speakers, including Edward Glennon. Refreshments will be available.
Please contact Dinah Winch on 0161 770 4632 for more information.
Portrait of Miss Rhoda Samuels: oil on canvas
The Prisoner: etching
Fully restored 180 bus service in the New Year
Diggle
A popular bus service has been fully restored following a campaign backed by members of Saddleworth and Lees District Executive.
Increasing the frequency of the 180 to Greenfield to every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes is among a number of improvements to bus services being introduced in the Borough.
In October 2012 the service was cut to hourly, provoking criticism from residents. A campaign was launched to overturn the decision, including a petition which attracted more than 500 signatures, led by local residents and supported by ward members. A question was submitted to October’s Full Council meeting requesting the Local Authority’s support to lobby First Bus so that the 180 should be reinstated as a half hourly service. Following a period of consultation, First Bus has now agreed to a full reinstatement from January 28.
Councillor Jim McMahon, Leader of Oldham Council, said, “The full reinstatement of the 180 service is a victory for people power but I would also like to thank First Bus for taking the views of people on board and reversing what was an unpopular decision. The return of a half hour service to Greenfield coupled with the other improvements to bus services across the Borough is a great start to the New Year for bus passengers.”
Councillor Barbara Beeley, Chair of Saddleworth and Lees District Executive, said, “This is great news for residents, especially the elderly, as the 180 is a popular service and it was a very unpopular decision when it was cut.”
Other improvements to be introduced by First Bus in the New Year are:
· Service 184 Uppermill: changes in departure times of service 184 to/from Uppermill – First will still provide 3 buses per hour but at more evenly spaced intervals;
· Service 184 Uppermill Sundays: Increase in frequency of Sunday buses to Uppermill. During shopping hours First will provide 3 buses per hour from Uppermill to Oldham and Manchester rather than 1. This will mean a bus every 15 minutes from Greenfield Railway Station through Grotton and Lees to Oldham and Manchester;
· Services 180/184: Additional journeys mid-evening to cater for evening Shoppers; additional early journeys on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Faster timetable as roadworks related to Metrolink construction end;
· Service 425 Holts and Fitton Hill: Increase in frequency at off peak times from every 12 minutes to every 10 minutes;
· Service 83 Sholver: revised times with faster journeys on route 83 (Monday to Saturday) and additional early Sunday morning journey introduced;
· Service 408 Buckstones to Stalybridge – retimed at peak times to improve timekeeping.
First are also considering other issues raised at the Saddleworth and Lees consultation event for possible implementation in April 2014.
Related stories:
Debbie Abrahams MP meets Royal British Legion Manager
Debbie Abrahams MP with Richard Foster
The Royal British Legion has thanked Debbie Abrahams, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, for taking the time to meet Legion Area Manager, Richard Foster.
The Legion is the leading provider of welfare for the Armed Forces community and last week local MP Debbie Abrahams attended an event in the Houses of Parliament dedicated to showcasing the Legion’s work in Oldham and Saddleworth. Debbie Abrahams MP used the opportunity to discuss with Mr Foster the changing face of Armed Forces welfare provision in the local community. The event also presented a chance for Debbie to hear more about the Legion’s work developing Community Covenants locally.
Richard Foster, the Legion’s Area Manager, said, “It was great to see Debbie; we really appreciated her making the time to drop in. Many people don’t realise that we spend £1.6 million every week in direct welfare support for the Serving and ex-Service community and their families, so we were delighted to tell Debbie about the range of services we provide”.
Debbie said, “I was really pleased to meet my new Royal British Legion Area Manager. Richard made it clear that the Legion’s work does not stop on 11th November. Providing assistance for members and former members of the Armed Forces who have been injured, or who need help in other ways, as well as their families, is a 365-day-a-year job. It is vital that we as a nation honour the sacrifices made by our Armed Forces, and I’m proud to support the wide range of work undertaken by The Royal British Legion.”
Public services to be reduced over Christmas and New Year
Photo: Martin Adison
Oldham Council is publicising details of restricted services during the Christmas and New Year period. Many services and facilities usually offered to the public by the Local Authority and its partners will be scaled down during the holiday period. Out-of-hours services will remain available for urgent situations such as social care and other emergencies, but residents should only use them in genuine cases.The services affected, and details of emergency contact telephone numbers, will be outlined in a series of advertisements in the local press and on the Oldham Council website at http://www.oldham.gov.uk/christmas_closures Posters will be displayed at affected venues with full details of the closure arrangements.
There will be no household waste and recycling collections on Wednesday 25 and Thursday 26 December and Wednesday, January 1. Only households which have Wednesday and Thursday collections will be affected by changes to their collection arrangements. Alternate collections for general rubbish and food and garden waste for all affected households have been arranged for Saturdays 21 and 28 December and January 4, 2014 so residents should put out the relevant waste containers.
Households will receive leaflets with all the relevant information about changes to their collections in the run up to Christmas. All other collection days will remain the same. This information will also be published on the Council’s website and Facebook pages, in the local press and on Twitter.
Oldham Council staff are taking three days out of their annual leave entitlement allowance (December 27, 30 and 31) to enable the closure to take place. Councillor Abdul Jabbar, Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “This is the sixth time we have operated the Christmas closure scheme and it has proved successful in previous years. This is a very quiet time for the core services we provide so residents should be relatively unaffected. I would, however, urge residents to familiarise themselves with these arrangements. It is important people are aware that many of our usual services will be shut, and that they should only contact us if they have a genuine need to.
“All employees have been notified they need to take three days’ leave from their normal annual entitlement for this purpose. This makes good, sound economic sense for Council Tax payers, having saved the Authority more than £75,000 last year over the shutdown. We have thoroughly planned this year’s closure. I would like to reassure residents that if they have an urgent need there will be staff and resources available to cope and provide assistance.”
Oldham Council rejects Village Green Application
Diggle Village Green
By The DCA Executive Committee
Our apologies for the legal jargon but it displays what Dr. Nick Cox has tirelessly navigated, on Diggle’s behalf, over the last eight months.
At a meeting of the OMBC Commons Registration Committee, held on 26 November, the application to register Diggle Village Green as an official village green was rejected.
It must go on record that the application met the legal test for registration in all respects except one, a subsection of the requirement that use of the land should be ‘as of right’ which defines use of this kind as being ‘without permission’. The point at issue is that the land was acquired by Saddleworth UDC under legislation which contains a clause enabling them to adopt or lay out land associated with public housing as ‘open space’. Although there is no direct evidence that the Saddleworth UDC or its successors had the express intention of providing the land we know as the Village Green as open space, the mere fact that the clause exists within the legislation has been deemed in recent case law as sufficient to indicate an effective appropriation of the land to that purpose. If the land is regarded as open space provided by the Saddleworth UDC and its successors, then use of that land is with implicit permission and therefore ‘by right’ not ‘as of right’ and the land cannot be registered as a village green.
As a result of the efforts of the DCA committee and many members in gathering and contributing evidence Dr Nicholas Cox, the applicant, was able to present a compelling argument for registration that was only narrowly defeated. FCHO, the landowner, submitted a series of objections, all of which were dismissed by OMBC after a rigorous critique of their arguments was submitted by Dr Cox. It is disappointing that the application was rejected on an interpretation of a fine point of case law but for registration to take place all the tests must be met in full.
At the meeting Dr Cox made the case to the Committee that the presence of poles and lines for hanging washing on the land, provided (as the testimony of Diggle residents proved) by Saddleworth UDC and maintained by subsequent authorities, suggested that the land was not provided as ‘open space’ as envisaged in the legislation, but rather as more narrowly defined amenity land specifically associated with the housing on Moor Crescent. It came subsequently to be used for recreational purposes by residents and the wider community. However, the Committee accepted the recommendation presented by Mr Evans (OMBC Group Solicitor) that the application should be rejected on the grounds that ‘open space’ was not defined within the legislation and could be understood to have been made available for a variety of purposes.
The DCA would like to thank Dr Cox for his work on the application, which, supported by other members of the Committee and aided by the expert legal advice of Robert McCracken QC, began in January and continued throughout the year with legal argument and counter argument. FCHO had many resources available to them to employ barristers and other legal experts, Dr Cox and the DCA defeated their arguments but were not able to persuade the Commons Registration Committee on the one issue which has proved crucial in determining the case. Although FCHO ‘won’, they only ‘won’ on a technicality. It is bitterly ironic that the argument that Diggle Village Green was intended as ‘open space’ for the use of the community has been used to take it from that community and develop it for housing. The DCA Executive Committee extend their collective thanks to Dr Cox for his efforts in seeking to prevent this from happening.
Christingle, Diggle (Photo: Stuart Coleman©2012)
The DCA are holding the Christingle Carol Service on 8th December at 4pm on the village green and FCHO have said that they have no difficulty with the event being held on there.
FCHO anticipate that work will not start on the site until early 2014 at the earliest, more probably in the spring.
Saddleworth North Monthly Crime Figures
November 2013
| Crime | June | July | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov |
| Buglary (Homes) | 5 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 4 |
| Burglary Other (Shed, Garage, Business) | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Theft from a Vehicle | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Theft of a motor Vehicle | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Criminal Damage | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 5 |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Burglary Dwelling
Denshaw Rd, Delph. Unknown offenders stole car keys through a letter box. Two vehicles were stolen. One vehicle was later recovered.
Delph New Rd – Unknown offenders removed car keys through the letterbox. One vehicle was taken from front of property.
Oldham Rd, Delph – Entry gained via insecure front door, handbag stolen.
Hill End Rd, Delph – Unknown offenders entered rear garden via open gate, gained entry via insecure rear door took house and vehicle keys. One vehicle was stolen.
Burglary Other
Austerlands Cricket Club – Entry gained through a cellar door. TV and spirits were stolen.
Oldham Rd, Denshaw – Unknown offenders stole 8 alloy wheels fitted with snow tyres from an insecure barn.
Vehicle crime
Bleak Hey Nook Lane – Number plates and VIN number for a tractor stolen.
Wallhill Rd, Dobcross – Four wheel trims taken from a vehicle on a driveway.
Kiln Green Diggle – Fuel drained from a vehicle and stolen.
Huddersfield Rd, Scouthead – Rear light and fitting removed from a vehicle.
Denshaw Rd, Delph – Vehicle was stolen using keys left in the ignition.
Marsh Lea Diggle – Secure unattended motorcycle stolen.
Delph New Rd, Dobcross – Vehicle stolen.
Criminal Damage
Wallhill Rd, Dobcross – Offenders attempted to drill a gate lock.
Grains Rd, Delph – A vehicle’s rear quarter light smashed.
Dobcross New Rd, – Rear window smashed by stone, no entry gained.
Message from PCSO’s Kath and Monica
It’s that time of year again, the tree is up and decorated with gifts underneath. Please remember, if they are on view from the window they could be an invitation for burglars, so where you can, try to keep them out of site.
Remember to leave a light on when you’re out in the evenings or even better set your light timers.
Lastly could I just say a massive thank you to everyone who came along to Uppermill station on Saturday and donated toys to the Key 103 Mission Christmas Cash 4 Kids Appeal. We were overwhelmed by the response and by your generosity and kindness. Your gifts will be greatly appreciated by the children who live in poverty throughout the Manchester area, and thanks to you they will have a present on Christmas morning.
Have a safe and very Happy Christmas and all the best for the New Year
Contact u via oldhamborough@gmp.police.uk or give us a call on 0161 856 4525
Building a new school in Uppermill could cost less than building in Diggle
Plans for the new school in Uppermill submitted to OMBC and the EFA
Plans showing how the current Education Funding Authority (EFA) design proposals for the Diggle site will fit on the mostly unusable football pitch on the current Uppermill site are now being considered by OMBC and the EFA.
Save Diggle Action Group (SDAG) believes that the proposal to choose Diggle over Uppermill may have been based on the old BSF (Building Schools for the future) design from 2008 rather than the new EFA design, and that it has not been reconsidered in the light of revised funding arrangements.
The attached proposals, loosely costed by a professional developer are identical in size and form and offer equivalent and in some parts better facilities to those proposed at Diggle. The school has been involved in aspects of the design and their requirements incorporated into the plans. The new plan recognises that the all-weather pitch and outdoor courts in Uppermill can be retained. Further savings may be made by refurbishing the existing sports hall (as has been done at Oldham academy North), as opposed to the larger cost of new facilities in Diggle.
In order to avoid excessive costs for contractor access, which was seen as a major problem with the Uppermill site, the new proposals involve a much cheaper route being taken which can be achieved by the temporary relocation of about 6 classrooms elsewhere on site. There will be no other disruption during construction. Most schools elsewhere in the country are rebuilt on existing sites, and the EFA fully supports this approach.
Cllr Mike Buckley of SDAG said ” the plans have been professionally drawn up and costed. We are confident that with all the potential extra expense involved in building the school in Diggle, rather than using the existing infrastructure in Uppermill, our proposals will be less costly. A brand new, fit for purpose school, can be built in Uppermill, at the heart of Saddleworth entirely within the proposed budget of £17 million if the political and local will exists to achieve this.”