Saddleworth councillors help force emergency borough meeting over Places for Everyone

SADDLEWORTH councillors have helped force an emergency meeting of the Oldham borough authority over its standing in the controversial Places for Everyone scheme.

The Greater Manchester-wide proposal, designed to regulate planning, has sparked anger in the chamber before.

Now the Liberal Democrats have secured an extraordinary session on Wednesday, February 12 with a definitive motion asking for Oldham’s withdrawal, just like Stockport.

Arguments over whether an earlier motion would get the authority to write to Secretary of State Angela Rayner to formally request its removal or not eventually led to the effective abandonment of its December session.

Tempers frayed over what opposition councillors saw as a failure to act after it went through by 30 votes to 29, with borough Mayor Cllr Zahid Chauhan forced to step in.

During the debate, Saddleworth West and Lees Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani argued: “The original motion was to write to the secretary of state and anything removing this option would be a breach of the council constitution.”

Saddleworth North Conservative Councillor Pam Byrne cited ‘unacceptable jiggery-pokery red tape speak’ as muddying the waters while ward colleague, Lib Dem Garth Harkness, questioned the use of a double negative in papers and claimed ‘the leadership is trying to stop’ the outcome of the vote

“We all know what we were voting for,” he said before things got out of hand.

Oldham Council’s interim borough solicitor Alex Bougatef attempted to explain: “At no point have we been asked to write to the secretary of state as yet.

“It clearly says – it’s underlined and in bold – not to write to the secretary of state and to retain Places for Everyone.

“That’s what was voted upon and was voted down. Bring a motion then we’ll vote on it, it’s as simple as that.”

Now that motion has been brought by Cllr Howard Sykes, with Saddleworth West and Lees’ Cllrs Alicia Marland and Mark Kenyon, plus Saddleworth South’s Cllr Helen Bishop, also requesting it be heard.

It asks to: “Instruct the Leader of the council and the acting chief executive to write to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government requesting that they remove Oldham Borough from the ‘Places for Everyone’ development plan.”

Councillor Sykes, leader of Oldham Liberal Democrats, said: “Labour has used every trick in the book to stop us making a formal request to the government to come out of Places for Everyone and protect our green belt.

“The Liberal Democrats are leaving no room for doubt. We have called an emergency meeting and we will have a clear vote on whether councillors want to withdraw or not.

“This is crunch time for all opposition councillors to come together and do right by the people of Oldham Borough, who have made their objection to this loss of green belt abundantly clear.

“Places for Everyone is not about affordable housing, it is about developer profit.

“Labour do not have a majority.  So, there is nowhere to hide for non-Labour members.  Not turning up is just like voting to stay in!

“If everyone else does the right thing and votes with the Liberal Democrats, Oldham Council will have to formally request to leave the scheme to the Secretary of State, and we will be free to develop our own brownfield first housing strategy.”