COUNCIL ELECTIONS 2015 — PARTY STATEMENTS

LABOUR

We are continuing to invest

WITH your support Labour gained control of Oldham Council in 2011. We’ve come a long way together and I hope today you can see that we have kept our word.

Work is well under way to transform the Old Town Hall into a new cinema and restaurants together with an impressive new public square. New leisure centres will soon be opening their doors to sports and fitness fans. Oldham Athletic are on course with the new North Stand. Metrolink is now open connecting us with Manchester and Rochdale once more.

Hotel Future and a new Coliseum Theatre and Heritage Centre are progressing well and we are investing in new businesses across the borough; from Oldham Yorkshire Street to Failsworth, Shaw and Lees. We are also making good progress on Royton Town Centre.

Even in the most difficult times we are investing to make our borough one we can be proud of.

New secondary schools for Saddleworth and Royton and Crompton will replace crumbling buildings. Additional primary classroom places across Oldham are being prepared as well as a brand new autism school.

We’ve invested in what happens inside our schools through the Education and Skills Commission, Enterprise Hubs and programmes like Primary Engineers and Junior University.

New homes are being built across the borough. We are pioneering new community build and garden suburb neighbourhoods and we are improving existing homes through our Warm Homes scheme.

We’ve done all that and much more despite vicious cuts from the coalition Government. With cuts of over £204 million to the council budget we won’t be able to carry on delivering services if things don’t change in Westminster too.

Vital services and facilities are being lost each year and some are near breaking point. We need a strong Labour council working together with an ambitious Labour Government.



LIBERAL DEMOCRATS
Facing challenges head on

THIS year, you have the opportunity to elect councillors who, instead of posturing, will face the challenges in local government head on — delivering services you expect whilst squeezing much better value from your council tax.

As the opposition party, the Liberal Democrats challenge Labour where necessary, but work with them when we can, and we have made many innovative proposals to support the unemployed, the disabled and the poor; to help our environment; and to grow our local economy.

In contrast, UKIP and the Conservatives have done nothing.

We believe that Oldham Council must get the basics right:

:: People want clean streets, potholes filled, bins collected and our green spaces and parks looked after.

:: In the last council tax-setting meeting, we found money to keep youth services and improve gully cleaning by cutting bureaucracy and waste. Labour and the Conservatives were opposed to these ideas.

:: Lib-Dem councillors have always championed independent district partnerships. We also serve enthusiastically on two parish councils.

:: Liberal Democrats want council investment in renewable energy projects. This is good for our environment and the council’s finances too — bringing in sustainable income for at least the next quarter century.

Labour blames the Liberal Democrats for the cuts. They won’t tell you that cuts were only necessary because they left the country in financial ruin or that Oldham’s Liberal Democrats successfully lobbied ministers to stop further cuts.

Voting Liberal Democrat means supporting sound finance and reliable public services, and a party putting people and communities first.

It is a positive vote against Labour’s land grab, for better youth provision and for improved health and leisure facilities.

It also means you will elect a local councillor who will be your champion and be on your side.



CONSERVATIVES

Six reasons for your support

THE local elections are vitally important to Oldham’s future and your vote will decide what you want for your town and your village. So, we have set out SIX reasons to vote Conservative:

1) Vote Conservative to keep council tax bills down. Thanks to the Conservatives we have frozen council tax again. On average, Conservative-controlled councils charge £89 a year less than Labour Ccouncils and £106 a year less than Lib-Dem councils. Oldham needs to be prudent with your money; otherwise, we could all end up paying for the debt with future tax rises. Only the Conservatives will freeze council tax. Labour, UKIP, Green, Independents and the Lib-Dems cannot guarantee a freeze.

2) Vote Conservative for a greener and cleaner borough. We will focus our efforts on putting more street cleaners out on the beat, helping to protect our town centres, parks, villages, open spaces and streets from flytipping and litter.

3) Vote Conservative to own your own home. We back all 18,700 housing association tenants in Oldham to buy their own home at a discount with right to buy. We also support first-time buyers with a 20 per cent discount with Help to Buy.

4) Vote Conservative for fairer business rates. We want the council to accept a government subsidy allowing for discounts of up to 50 per cent on business rates to kick start small businesses.

5) Vote Conservative to protect our green belt. Under this Labour council our borough’s green belt has come under sustained threat. We will always be the strongest advocates of our green belt. We pledge to support residents and campaign against unnecessary development.

6) Vote Conservative for putting you first and politics second. We believe a balance can be struck between having strong principles on the big issues but realising that we can work together and end the squabbling that stops things getting done. We will work with other parties to get the best results for you.

So on Thursday if you want lower council tax, high-quality services and believe that good local government should cost less then vote Conservative.




UKIP

Committed to common sense


COMMON sense policies we are committed to:

:: Cutting council tax and business rates.

:: Cutting council officers/managers — not frontline staff.

:: Giving decision-making to LOCAL communities.

:: Saving our green belt and saying NO to wind farms.

:: Cracking down on crime and anti-social behaviour.

:: Putting MORE police on our streets.

:: Controlling immigration.

We are committed to saving £32.7 billion a year by:

:: Stopping the £12bn foreign aid budget.

:: Stopping the £19.2bn EU budget.

:: Stopping the £1.5bn NHS costs for unemployed immigrants.

:: Giving over £110 million per year back to Oldham.




GREEN PARTY

Green economy ‘best’


The Green Party is campaigning against austerity in Oldham and Saddleworth and nationally.

We believe investing in a strong green economy is the best way out of our economic troubles — creating jobs, tackling climate change and supporting small businesses.

Reducing the speed limit to 20mph on residential roads would add less than a minute to most journeys but could save thousands of lives each year.

Oldham and Saddleworth Green Party fully supports the campaign against developing the green spaces around Foxdenton Lane.

We want to see sufficient housing in the borough, and we want to see jobs created, but this development is unlikely to have a benefit in either of these areas.



TUSC

(Trade Unionists & Socialists against Cuts)


Sam Pennington, who is standing in Failsworth West, said: “With no other real left-wing alternative in the Failsworth West area, I’m hoping the constituents see that TUSC is the only real anti-austerity party.

“TUSC candidates pledge to reject any cuts and guarantee a vocal and visible opposition to austerity cuts that are being brutally handed out across the country. As a younger candidate, I am in touch with the issues other candidates may not be; issues surrounding younger people in Failsworth and Oldham. For these reasons you should vote for the TUSC coalition.”




RESPECT PARTY

Respect is an acronym of Respect, Equality, Socialism, Peace, Environmentalism, Community and Trade Unionism. The left-wing party is committed to standing in defence of the values of peace, justice and equality.

The party aims to ease fears residents have about Islam, end Islamophobia and work with the community for an overall destination of peace in Oldham. The party also proposes an end to austerity and the scrapping of the bedroom tax. Other proposals include the assurance of a living wage for all workers and a colour-blind points-based immigration system.

lRespect candidate Tariq Mahmood Ullah is standing in St Mary’s ward.




INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES


Lesley Brown (Saddleworth North)

Lesley is a strong opponent of the move of Saddleworth School from Uppermill to Diggle and is appalled at the way Oldham Council and the major political parties have ignored public opinion on this issue.

She believes the character of Saddleworth is under threat from over-development and wants to see tougher enforcement of planning rules and planning decisions made by local councillors.

But most importantly she wants to see councillors who reflect the views of the people that elected them, not the diktat of the Oldham political parties to which they belong.


Helen Bishop (Saddleworth West and Lees)

I am standing as an Independent because I have long lost faith in party politics.

All of the political parties will blame the current situation on each other, wasting time that could be used much more proactively.

There are pressing local issues that are way too important to play these sorts of political games with, issues which affect people’s lives.

My pledge to the people of Saddleworth West and Lees is simple — I will use my voice and vote in the council chamber to oppose cuts to frontline staff and services, instead taking it from unnecessary layers of expensive management, consultancy fees and bureaucracy.


Naveed Ahmed (Waterhead)

I Oppose the Oldham Council Selective Landlord Licensing Scheme. I will set up a community group to make sure that the Waterhead councillors are accountable for all their decisions made on behalf of their ward residents.

I will also hold option evenings for Waterhead Year 11 school leavers across the area so they can see what courses are available across Greater Manchester and also apprenticeships.

I will do a variety of community based projects to tackle problems like flytipping, recycling, employment and sports.