Oldham Council sets out changes and restrictions to services over Christmas and the New Year

OLDHAM COUNCIL is informing residents about changes and restrictions to services over Christmas and the New Year.

As in previous years many of the public services and facilities run by the local authority and its partners will be scaled down during the holiday period.

Emergency out-of-hours services will remain available for urgent situations such as social care, but residents should only use them in genuine cases.

The services affected – and details of emergency contact telephone numbers – are on the council’s website.

Due to bank holidays there will be no waste collections on Friday, December 25 and Friday, January 1 and affected households will receive leaflets about the changes to their collections.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday collections will be unaffected during this festive period.

Waste and recycling can also be taken to Arkwright Street Household Waste and Recycling Centre, Oldham, OL9 9LZ or your nearest facility. The centres are closed on December 25 and January 1.

Council staff are taking three days out of their annual leave entitlement allowance (December 29, 30, 31) to enable the Christmas closure to take place.

Councillor Abdul Jabbar, Cabinet Member for Finance and Human Resources, said: “Our Christmas closure scheme has now been up and running for many years and again we’ve planned so that residents are largely unaffected.

“It’s traditionally very quiet at this time of year for the core services we provide so the shutdown makes good, sound economic sense for council tax payers, as we save money by shutting down our heating systems in council buildings, for example.

“It’s important people are aware with these arrangements and know that many of our usual services are shut.

“We’d like to reassure residents that if they have an urgent need there will be staff and resources available but please only contact us if you have a genuine need.

“We’d also like to wish everyone a happy Christmas and New Year.”

You can recycle your Christmas tree by with either cutting it into small pieces and putting it in your garden bin or by taking it toArkwright Street recycling centre or to one of thefollowing recycling ‘drop off’ points from December 28 to January 17: