Agenda item

(time limit 15 Minutes)

1.    Question from John Whatmough

Why has this food hub/allotment been built, without consultation with residents, impacting on a resident’s house, a pensioner in poor health, unable to access her boundary hedge and fencing impacting her privacy and adding stress. The council had a whole lot of space on the park to put this on but chose to erect against a homeowner's property, blocking off green space promised as a privacy area, many years ago by a Councillor?

Councillor Taylor, Statutory Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, replied, thanking Mr Whatmough for his question, noting that the food?growing hub at Berriesfield Park is a community?led project designed to support residents, improve local wellbeing and encourage residents to grow their own food.

It was publicised as part of the wider park improvement work, but we recognise that some residents wanted further opportunities to engage about the project. After issues were raised, officers met at the site on 17^th February 2026 with representatives. Officers were asked whether the new fence could be moved further into the park.

It was explained that this was not possible, however to address the resident’s concerns, the Council will cut back the hedge to the boundary line, which will create additional space and make future maintenance easier – this proposal was supported. We have also looked into whether this area was ever formally designated as a privacy buffer, and we have found no record of such a designation.

The Council is committed to supporting the resident and addressing their concerns, while also ensuring the growing hub continues to benefit the wider community.

2.    Question from Hannah Roberts

2026 is the National Year of Reading. Could the Cabinet Member report on activities in Oldham so far and outline what else is planned to get people reading across the borough?

Councillor Mohon Ali, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills replied, thanking Hannah Roberts for her question. We’re using the National Year of reading to amplify our amazing library reading offer which includes events and activities for all ages – from theatre to baby groups and everything in between. We’ve also programmed extra events and activities to encourage people to get into reading.

We got off to a flying start with the launch of our reading calendars in January – residents can pick up a calendar in any library to read along with our monthly themes and get book recommendations from the library team. A programme of book displays runs alongside the calendars to make it super easy to find a book. A personal shopper – for books.

We launched our book selection appointments for anyone who is looking to get back into reading and would like some guidance. Tell us a bit about yourself and your reading tastes and habits, and we’ll find the perfect book for you.

The National Year of Reading events programme offers something for everyone including author events, World Book Night celebrations, the Summer Reading Challenge, StoryFest and the Greater Manchester Festival of Libraries.

More information is available on the Council’s website about Author events, and the events coming soon like

· World Book Night

· StoryFest

· Summer Reading Challenge

· GM Festival of Libraries

3.    Question from Michael Powell

Oldham Council’s response to reported potholes now states that defects assessed as “low priority” will be monitored rather than repaired. Given that a reported and actionable defect can deteriorate rapidly, does the Council consider this approach sufficient to rely on a Section 58 defence if damage or injury occurs? Is the Council concerned that delaying repairs could increase legal and safety risks? Additionally, in light of recent government funding specifically allocated for pothole repairs, can the Council explain whether this change in approach will result in fewer potholes being repaired overall?

Councillor Goodwin, Cabinet member for Transport and Highways replied, thanking Mr Powell for his question. We truly recognise resident concerns regarding highway improvements, that’s why this Labour administration committed an additional £2m in capital investment to improve the boroughs road network as part of the 2026/27 budget. This is separate to national government funding that the council receives, which as we outlined at Budget council earlier this month is around £16m worth of highways improvements over the next three years.

Our priority is wider road improvements and resurfacing to prevent defects.

The impact of the additional investment will become clear in the coming months when the weather hopefully improves allowing works to begin.

he Council’s Highway Safety Inspection Policy is based on regional and national guidance and follows a risk-based approach where priorities are determined following inspection and assessment by qualified safety inspectors. Response times for reactive repairs range from 2hrs to 24 hours for emergency or urgent works, whereas defects which have been assessed as having the lowest risk may not have a job raised for repair, but will instead be reviewed regularly and picked up as part of a planned highway maintenance programme. Any deterioration detected by the monitoring regime will be treated as an urgent/emergency repair.

4.    Question from Samuel Hollis

Could the appropriate Cabinet Member clarify the approved uses at Clough Manor Hotel & what enforcement action the Council is taking to restrict activities to those uses? Local residents are very concerned about the damaging impact on the local environment, road safety & repeated attempts to expand uses unsuitable for this site.

Councillor Taylor, Statutory Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods replied, thanking Samuel for his question, confirming that the former Clough Manor Hotel (now known as the W Apart Hotel) has an approved use as a hotel (use class C1).

However, part of the building was granted permission for 6 residential apartments (use class C3) last year, and so this permission can be implemented subject to the conditions on that permission being discharged.

In terms of enforcement, a Section 215 notice was issued in August 2025 for the removal of the mounds of earth and re-instatement and re-seeding of field to front.  the notice has not been complied with thus far, and so the council are considering a prosecution related to this non-compliance.

5.    Question from Shona Farnworth

A new £1 billion-a-year Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) launches in April 2026, replacing the Household Support Fund to provide multi-year, local council-administered assistance for essentials, including emergency cash for financial shocks. This long-term support targets vulnerable households with food, energy, and cost-of-living help. When will this be available in April

and to make sure the funds also go to UNPAID CARERS in Oldham.

Councillor Jabbar, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Corporate Services and Sustainability replied, thanking Shona for her question and confirming that our £1 million Crisis Payment Scheme, as part of our Crisis and Resilience Fund offer, will be live in April. Wherever possible and subject to the requested information being provided, Crisis Payments will be fully assessed within 2 working days. This swift response means we can support any resident including Unpaid Carers who experience a sudden financial shock to receive timely support.

Unpaid Carers who receive Housing Benefits or Universal Credit will also have the option to apply for a Housing Payment as part of Oldham’s Crisis and Resilience offer. Half a million pounds has been set aside to support residents to meet shortfalls in their housing costs. I’m pleased to share that this will also be available in April.

6.    Question from Roger Blackmore

Please could a senior Oldham Council officer support local Councillors who have asked for an on-site meeting to review the effectiveness of traffic calming and pedestrian safety measures in the Station Road area of Uppermill.

Residents have observed the frequency with which the 20mph limit has been ignored and are convinced it is only a matter of time before there are serious accidents. Pedestrians including visitors to the doctors' surgery are particularly vulnerable as there is no pavement provided where Station Road approaches Smithy Lane.

Councillor Goodwin, Cabinet member for Transport and Highways replied, thanking Mr Blackmore for his question.

Highway safety is a major priority for this Administration, and this is something that we have continued to support - originally as part of the ’20’s plenty’ motion that was agreed at full council and subsequently through a range of additional safety improvements and traffic calming measures across the borough. 

A traffic calming and permanent 20 mph speed limit scheme for the Uppermill Area was consulted on in 2024. However, there was a general lack of support for the scheme from residents and therefore the proposals didn’t progress.

Taking on board the feedback from the community, a redesigned scheme was consulted on, formally advertised and has now been approved. The amended scheme introduces improvements to crossings within the village centre including a new Zebra Crossing near the Museum car park. These works will be implemented in the coming year.

Funding from the original scheme is still available, the Council will liaise with the Parish Council and residents on the possibility of introducing further traffic calming measures on side roads in Uppermill and details of these schemes will be shared in due course.

7.    Question from John Shelley

Whilst we welcome the pause to the closure of Chadderton Park day centre, what happens now? All parties are now in limbo regarding this. Is there a time scale that Miocare/the Council are working to and what factors will affect the final decision. Will all stakeholders be advised on any decisions in a more professional way compared to previous correspondence? 

Councillor Brownridge, Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing, stating that she very much understands and shares Mr Shelley’s concerns. I asked Officers of the Council to step in when it was becoming clear of the concerns of service users and their relatives. At that point we asked for a pause to the whole proposals until matters were fully understood.

Miocare staff are reviewing the options with a view to completing that work by 5 June and therefore are in a period of extended review and consultation.

We have asked for that review to look closely at current occupancy and demand for the service, the needs of current service users, possible alternatives to this type of day provision, costs to refurbish, and the impact of any change in provision on the people who attend and their families.

It is our expectation that Miocare will ensure that there will be several opportunities for those affected to be directly involved in this process. The first of these will involve MioCare meeting with families throughout March to capture views and experiences.

Once that work is complete, I have asked for proposals to come back to the Council to review and consider.

8.    Question from Luke Goss

Why does Oldham Council planning/transport not support the installation of in the floor EV chargers on street and pavements outside of people’s homes? These are chargers installed into the pavement/street for houses that don’t have a driveway. So that residents can still own and charge their EVs. They are flush to the ground and maintained by installation companies and paid for by the resident. They are safe and cause no trip hazard.  In a society where we are trying to encourage EVs and reduce air pollution this makes no sense”.

Councillor Goodwin, Cabinet member for Transport and Highways replied, thanking Mr Goss for his question.

The Council does support the installation of cross-pavement EV charging channels especially in locations where residents do not have space for home charging points in their front yards/gardens/driveways. We are keen to ensure residents can make the transition to electric vehicles if they wish to do so, and to benefit from the cheaper home charging rates.

To support all residents with improved access to EV charging, Oldham Council is working closely with the GM Combined Authority to roll out the programme and expand EV chargers in areas where residents don’t have easy access to off-street parking – this increase in publicly accessible EV charging is a priority for the Council and the City Region.

9.    Question from Jeff Garner

Oldham Council has been approached by Network Rail in compiling a Construction Traffic Management Plan to address diversions in relation to the closure for several months of the A627 Oldham Road at Greenfield Station bridge for the TransPennine upgrade. Has the Council approached the Emergency Services to ensure that the diversions will not affect their regulatory response times during the months this main road will be closed? Has the Council considered supporting requests for National Rail to provide a temporary Bailey Bridge so that diversions will not be necessary and school, business and residents' journeys will have shorter delays?

Councillor Goodwin, Cabinet member for Transport and Highways replied, thanking Mr Garner for his question.

The TRU is a major national rail upgrade which sees the trans Pennine route electrified. The scheme will include works at a number of locations within the Saddleworth area. One of the main areas of work will see the replacement of the A670 road bridge at Greenfield Station.

One of the Councils first requests to Network Rail was to provide a temporary bridge during the replacement of the existing structure. However, the local topography and geometric layout of the highway network mean this is not possible. Network Rail, their design team and contractors will work with Oldham Council and all emergency services on the planning in implementation of diversion routes to minimise the impact on blue light services. This work is ongoing, and details will be shared once agreed.

The Mayor advised that unanswered questions, that had been submitted, would be published to the Council’s website, with written answers, in due course.