(time limit 30 minutes)
Minutes:
The Leader of the Main Opposition, Councillor Sykes, raised the following two questions:
Question 1: Beer but in fact the chips are down
“My first question concerns the immediate future of the hospitality industry in this Borough.
The hospitality sector has come in for some particularly harsh treatment from this Government since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, despite the fact that it is estimated that only 3 – 5% of new infections originate from contacts in the hospitality industry in its broadest sense.
It has so far endured two national complete lockdowns. Invested countless millions of pounds in retraining and providing PPE to staff, adapting physical structures and changing working practices to be Covid-safe.
Faced counter-productive government requirements, such as closing at 10pm, or only serve alcohol with a ‘substantial meal’, meaning that small, wet-led pubs cannot operate profitably or indeed operate at all. They are now closed in our Tier-3 Borough for an indefinite period with no clear end in sight.
In theory this closure could be for ‘wet’ led pubs until at least March 2021, as we must be in Tier-1 before they can legally reopen.
The reality is brewery, pub and restaurant operators are now at the end of their tether.
They have invested so much emotionally and financially, but the current ongoing uncertainty is taking its toll and frankly current Government financial support packages do not cut the mustard.
The one glimmer of immediate hope in this latest lockdown was a concession granted at the last-minute by the Government after intense pressure from industry bosses and CAMRA.
This was to permit alcohol, as well as food, to be sold by breweries, pubs and restaurants, if pre-ordered. This has been described as a lifeline, saving at least 70 million pints of beer being immediately poured down the drain!
My question relates to how we as a Council might promote this offer to enable our local hospitality industry to survive?
I welcome the recent launch of the Council’s Virtual Market Place where our small independent traders can advertise in these difficult times, but at least these businesses can physically open.
CAMRA has a national website Brew2You on which breweries and pubs can advertise their wares for discerning customers enabling them to make online purchases for collection or delivery.
Would the Leader be willing to work with CAMRA and our local hospitality industry to create a similar website for Oldham which can be promoted alongside, or as part of the, the Virtual Market Place by Oldham Council, and help more of our local breweries, pubs and restaurants survive through these troubled times?”
Councillor Fielding, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills responded that Councillor Sykes had his support in lobbying over this issue. The restrictions had been in place for Greater Manchester for arguably far longer than other parts of the country and that was part of the reason why the Mayor of Greater Manchester had lobbied in October for a generous bail-out package when the area was placed into Tier 3, as the area had been affected for much longer than others. The Council would always work to support small businesses, including all those in the hospitality sector, and the suggestion of a local adaptation of Brew2You would be considered to enable local businesses to trade and provide salaries for their staff.
Question 2: Replacing Shaw and Crompton Health Centre
“For my second question, I would like to turn to another institution that is in dire straits.
I am referring to the Shaw and Crompton Health Centre which has been in desperate need of replacement for many years.
The latest housing development proposals for Shaw and Crompton will put yet more pressure on this outdated facility.
At present, we have a planning approval for 250 new homes at Cowlishaw, a new proposal for over 50 new homes on open land near Denbigh Drive, and a public consultation has just been concluded prior to an application for 400 new homes at the former Very and Yodel warehouse site.
If in the future a new ‘GMSF for the nine’ is to be brought back to Council, we would also see a further 482 homes in the Beal Valley and the number in the Cowlishaw area would double.
To summarise, this amounts to around 1,500 new properties – all of which are family homes and the residents and children of these new properties would all be looking to Shaw and Crompton Health Centre to provide for their immediate health needs.
Even before COVID-19, it often took days, sometimes weeks, for Shaw and Crompton residents to get a routine appointment – imagine how much harder it will be too do so with many thousands of more people making demands of an over-burdened service.
Therefore, in the recent public consultation for building on the Very and Yodel site the largest number of responses concerned the additional demands that would be placed on our local health service.
In early 2016, £500,000 was made available for a feasibility study into the options to build a new health centre, but almost five years on nothing has changed for the better; there is only now the prospect of greater and greater demands on the service.
My second question to the Leader tonight is then when will we finally see a new purpose-built, modern health centre provided for the people of Shaw and Crompton?
Councillor Fielding, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills responded that the question highlighted an important issue of new homes in the Borough. The Council needed to have a comprehensive conversation about the kind of place Oldham wanted to be, about how to provide homes people wanted to live in and the infrastructure those homes. It was sad that the GMSF had become a conversation solely about site selection, although the GMSF was no more. Discussion about infrastructure such as doctor’s surgeries would have been welcomed and would need to take place in future as plans for more homes were drawn up. Creating a Better Place included investment in a new health centre in Shaw but, due to the current financial situation, the Council had needed to reassess each project in particular with regard to ongoing revenue consequences to the Council. In the light of this, the Council was unable to imminently build a new health centre in Shaw. The concerns of Ward Councillors across the Borough were understood and, if bids for funding were successful, projects further down the list in the Capital Programme could be considered. There was still a commitment to the new health centre in Shaw.
Councillor Sheldon, Acting Leader of the Conservative Group asked a question about coronavirus and the effects on businesses prior to a vaccine being available. How much had the Council received from the government for the second lockdown to support business grants, how much was still left to be allocated and was there an assurance that the Council would do all it could to ensure businesses that needed the grant would get that support? Also, how many fraudulent claims had been potentially made?
Councillor Fielding, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills responded that the news of a vaccine being rolled out was very welcomed. The Council had received money from the government to support local businesses, however there were currently seven different grant schemes running at the same time and it was very complicated for staff to administer, although they were doing so incredibly well. The actual amount would be confirmed to Councillor Sheldon later, but the uptake of grant had been fairly low compared to the amount paid in the first lockdown. Councillors were encouraged to ensure businesses were aware of the range of support on offer and ensure they claimed it.
The Mayor reminded the meeting that the Council had agreed that, following the Leaders’ allocate questions, questions would be taken in an order which reflected the political balance of the Council.
1. Councillor Jacques asked the following question:
Daisy Nook Country Park is loved by residents of Failsworth and beyond. Sadly the area around the park is often blighted by fly tipping. Members of a local Facebook group have suggested that they would be willing to crowd fund the purchase of CCTV cameras to help combat the fly tipping. Could the appropriate cabinet member advise if this would help in the Council’s fight against dumping in the area?
Councillor Brownridge, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Culture, responded that she shared the concerns regarding flytipping in the park and welcomed any positive suggestions such as this . Unfortunately, after raising your suggestion with officers the Council was unable to install CCTV cameras in the Country park as they needed to be installed with power and to comply with the GDPR regulations that controlled the data that was collected. The Council looked at installing deployable CCTV cameras where it could across the Borough in response to issues but these could only be installed where there was a power connection and a pole to take the weight of the camera.
Members of the public were asked to continue to report any incidents via the online reporting system and officers would investigate and arrange the necessary removal. They were also asked not to fly-tip.
2. Councillor Phythian asked the following question:
It was good news to hear that Thornham Old Road had been removed from the site allocations in the GMSF. Now that the GMSF is dead, following Stockport’s withdrawal, can the Leader confirm that Thornham Old Road will continue to be protected in the new arrangements being developed?
Councillor Fielding, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills, responded that had the GMSF gone out to consultation, Thornham Old Road would not have been included as a greenbelt site to be released for housing. Thornham Old Road was protected greenbelt under current planning policy. It had always been our intention to protect as much greenbelt as possible, and prioritise brownfield sites for housing and employment development. The Council was currently exploring the options available to Oldham following recent decisions about the future of GMSF and following announcements from the government this morning about the new Local Housing Need formulas, it was seeking further clarity on the options available to reduce greenbelt requirements. It was the intention not to put back in any greenbelt sites that had been taken out of the GMSF and, if possible, to reduce the number of sites further.
3. Councillor Ali asked the following question:
The Greater Manchester Transport Strategy 2040 predicts that there will be a 13% increase in winter rainfall by 2040 due to global warming. It has become clear in recent days that many gullies and drains in the Borough struggle to cope with current levels of rainfall. What can the Council do to ensure that our drains in the Borough have the capacity to cope with the demand placed on them by increased rainfall so that we can reduce the risk of flooding in Oldham in future?
Councillor Brownridge, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Culture, responded that there was nothing to suggest that any recent rainfall has caused any widespread problems with gullies struggling to cope. Ahead of severe weather warnings regarding rain we have a targeted approach to mechanically sweep channels and clean gullies in known hotspots which proved effective once again over last weekend. An analysis of previous flood events since 2016 showed that the root cause of known flooding attributed specifically to gullies was 5% or less in all cases, with river flooding and main sewer capacity being the two main causes.
4. Councillor Harkness asked the following question:
I have been petitioning for a new health for Saddleworth for many years to both this council and the clinical commissioning group and on a number of occasions both have said they will look at this.
I raised it in 2018 with the rearrangement proposals of primary health care where clusters would be formed. Our budget amendment found some finances to make a new health centre in Saddleworth a possibility. Whilst the administration rejected the proposal, they did say they would look at this. A new site was problematic, and I have always advocated the existing Saddleworth School site as a suitable location. and this should never have been considered for any land swap. Now that there has been a fortunate failure to reach agreement on a land swap this provides a real opportunity to build a new health centre for Saddleworth. Will the Cabinet Member commit to making this a reality?
Councillor Chauhan, Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care, responded that he wanted to thank the elected member for raising this matter tonight. Councillor Harkness would be more than aware that the NHS had recently unveiled a document talking about the future of integrated working. That would have implications locally and the Council needed to work within the parameters of that national framework. It was not a Council duty at the moment to provide health centres but was an NHS one. However, given the joint working locally with the NHS I have asked senior officers to provide me with a framework for undertaking a needs assessment in the area during 2021. I will keep the Member informed of progress.
Thanks was expressed to all the health and social care workers who had worked very hard to achieve the roll-out of the vaccine, and to the residents who had responded well and attended for vaccination.
5. Councillor Goodwin asked the following question:
In an effort to discourage the use of vehicles that contribute to the type of air pollution which is damaging to health, it has been proposed to introduce a clean air zone in Greater Manchester. It was recently reported that a shift to cleaner vehicles in Leeds more quickly than was anticipated means that a similar proposal there is now no longer considered necessary. Is there any hope that a transition to cleaner vehicles in Greater Manchester might also take place at such a pace as to make our clean air zone unnecessary too?
Councillor Brownridge, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Culture, responded that the Council was determined to tackle the health threats and inequalities experienced by communities across Greater Manchester caused by high levels of air pollution on local roads, as soon as possible. To achieve this goal, there had been instructed by government to introduce a Category C Clean Air Zone across the city-region, that was why we were consulting with businesses and residents across Greater Manchester for their thoughts on the key elements of the Clean Air Zone, and the proposals for the supporting funds that have been developed, while further considering the ongoing impact of the pandemic.
The feedback from the consultation would be used to inform the final plans and to understand how best to ensure that residents were not exposed to illegal levels of air pollution. This approach had also been agreed with the Government.
6. Councillor Garry asked the following question:
We are lucky in Failsworth to have a fabulous team of volunteers who turn up every month to clean the canal that runs through our district .However, the coronavirus has stopped this, and now we are receiving complaints from residents that the canal is becoming full of rubbish. I understand that Oldham Council pays a considerable amount of money to the Waterway and Canal Trust to maintain the canal. Please can you advise how much is paid and how often it is maintained on an annual basis?
Councillor Brownridge, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Culture, responded that in 2000 the Council entered into an agreement with the Canals and Rivers Trust to take on the responsibility for the maintenance of the canals, inclusive of the waterway and associated landscape immediately surrounding it. Each year Oldham Council contributed around £127K to the Trust and it had obviously been a difficult year with many more people accessing these walks and unfortunately littering. The Trust had a responsibility to clean the area and the Council would continue to work with them to improve the level of cleanliness, picking up on the complaints reported.
7. Councillor Taylor asked the following question:
Over the last few weeks, Cllrs in Chadderton Central Ward have been contacted by residents regarding vehicles driving along the pavement to access properties and driving over or parking on the grass verge. Behaviour such as this is dangerous and inconsiderate, this is not just a problem in one area in Chadderton Central examples can be seen on Denton Lane, Foxdenton Lane, Broadway and I know it happens in other parts of the borough. Could the relevant Cabinet Member, please advise us what if anything can be done to prevent drivers from carrying out these dangerous manoeuvres that place pedestrians, cyclists and other car drivers at risk and causes damage to the little bits of green space we have in many areas?
Councillor Brownridge, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Culture, responded that the Highways Act alloweds the Council to construct footway vehicle crossings and charge the costs of constructing them to the particular resident. However as Denton Lane is a classified road, any such footway crossing would first require planning permission. Therefore it would be inappropriate for the Council to exercise this Highways Act power until it was satisfied that all planning requirements had been met.
Illegally driving over the footway was a Moving Traffic Issue and a matter for the Police to enforce. Measures could be taken by the Council to help mitigate this activity with the installation of strategically-placed street furniture including bollards, guardrails and planters; however, these interventions would have to be funded from an appropriate but very limited highway budget and would also require ongoing maintenance.
8. Councillor Williamson asked the following question:
I have a suggestion that I would like to ask the Cabinet Member to consider. I cannot understand why the WEEE - Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment - and recycling sections are not at the front entrance of the tip where ‘all including businesses’ can take their old electrical items back without entering the main tip. As a surcharge for WEEE waste has already been included in the sales price this should be possible at no cost to the Council / waste authority as these recycling schemes are all funded. Can I ask the Cabinet Member if they could raise this suggestion with waste authority colleagues to see if they can be implemented?
Councillor Brownridge, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Culture, responded that the site layout was the responsibility of the contractor Suez who must maintain safety at the site. Whilst the issue could be raised with the WDA who managed the contract, the concern was that the HWRC was contracted for domestic waste only and therefore care must be taken to ensure that any businesses producing commercial waste dispose of their waste through permitted channels.
As WEEE is classified as a hazardous waste this required care to be taken on its correct management through to disposal and therefore siting in a position which enables clear supervision is key.
9. Councillor McLaren asked the following question:
In 2015 the Kingfisher Learning Trust applied to the Department for Education to open a new Free School called Halcyon Way for children with Severe and Medium Learning Difficulties. The Trust who are committed to working in partnership with the council, were successful in their bid and the new school will be sited close to the Kingfisher Special School that already provides outstanding educational provision for children with a wide variety of special needs from across the borough. I am also very pleased to see that work is underway to replace the hydrotherapy pool situated on the Kingfisher site, this is a facility that will be of great benefit to the school and the borough. Could the Cabinet Member for Education, please update us on progress with both these projects including dates for completion?
Councillor Mushtaq, Cabinet Member for Education, responded that the DfE and Kingfisher Learning Trust had both confirmed that the Halcyon Way Free School was expected to open in January 2022, providing up to 80 additional places in the first year of operation and growing up to the full 140 place capacity over time. The confirmed opening date was much later than originally expected, however, work had now started on site. Council officers would continue to monitor the progress on site and work with the Kingfisher Learning Trust to support the delivery of the project in line with the January 2022 timeline.
Council Officers from the SEND service continued to work with The Kingfisher Learning Trust to ensure that they identified and planned for a successful transition for the children who would be attending the school. This formed part of the wider strategy to ensure a strong Oldham based provision for children and young people with SEND within mainstream and special school settings.
The new hydrotherapy pool at Kingfisher school was also almost complete. Despite the challenges of the various lockdowns the Kingfisher Learning Trust had managed the successful completion of the project. The hydrotherapy pool was an outstanding facility for the children at Kingfisher school to enjoy using and would also be available to other children, young people and adults to commission. It was expected that the facility would be available to Kingfisher school children in January 2021, with access for other children, young people and adults in the following weeks.
At this point in the meeting, the Mayor advised that the time limit for this item had expired.
RESOLVED that the questions and responses provided be noted.