Update on 5g mobile phone and broadband masts

Following the roundtable with minister Julia Lopez on 25th March, which followed the Westminster Hall I secured, MP’s have now received an update on what action is proposed.

I have included the letter, and will pull out key elements;

Firstly; on the 28 days notice required to the planning authority. The issue that even once notified the ability for councils to refuse permission is very limited, and in the end often only comes down the ability to negotiate colour or screening options, not whether or not it can be in place at all, unless for example it is blocking the public highway. Masts below 15 metres are considered Permitted Development, but at 15 metres it’s already taller than three stacked double decker buses.

Secondly; and potentially better news is the commitment to review the Cabinet Siting and Pole Siting Code of Practice to promote “better working practices”. I am concerned that the letter says this will be driven by industry, when it is industry themselves causing the problem. This has the potential to miss an opportunity to require equipment to be installed off the highway as a first port of call, or to insist that underground trucking is used.

Thirdly, I am deeply disappointed more isn’t being proposed to force operators to share equipment, again allowing the industry to self-organise. The problem with this is that the value of being a host is obviously more beneficial than hiring equipment. The result is still that multiple companies could install side by side equipment, doubling the inconvenience and intrusion.

I am pleased that the Minister has committed to review the bond scheme, which few have faith in at the moment. This is because it requires the company to hold funds within it’s own accounts, but what if it goes bust? It then falls to taxpayers through the council to remove it.

It is clear that the progress we had hoped for, in particular the requirement to use underground trunking and to provide surveys to Ofcom and the local council which can be spot checked, looks like it isn’t being taken forward.

I will follow up as I’ve committed to do, and more immediately my office will continue to support constituents where possible on site by site issues.

Sewage scandal close to home

The sewage pollution campaign is now mainstream and awareness of what’s been happening is growing all the time.

That England’s largest lake, Windermere is used to dump raw human sewage by United Utilities is symbolic of the treatment of the country by the Tory governmental they’ve taken our money in £billions of dividend payments instead of investing it to make the country better.

With that abuse is the risk to jobs and livelihoods for the huge tourist industry based around it and other lakes in the Lake District. The same is true of our shores at Blackpool and Fleetwood too.

But what draw me to this outrage was closer to home when it became clear that brooks, rivers and even open spaces in Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton were routinely being used to dump raw human sewage directly from peoples homes, when bill payers were paying more and more in good faith to have it treated.

For instance in Royton, a single site near Elk Mill had 40 discharges running for over 354 hours in 2022. Foxdenton Lane, shown in the photo, had 76 discharges running for over 103 hours.

It’s long overdue that time was called on the Wild West of the water industry and the public interest (who pay for it all) was put before shareholders.

School visit to Oldham Hulme Grammar School

It was wonderful to meet with pupils from Oldham Hulme Grammar School both at an assembly and in a question and answer session later, before the Easter break.

We discussed a wide range of issues in politics locally, nationally and around the world; all impressively prepared for.

School visits here and to Parliament itself are one of the best parts of the job, and it was a joy to take part in it.

It was also a good opportunity to meet with the principal Tony Oulten and other staff to talk about the school and its plans ahead for the over 700 pupils who attend.

Thank you all for your time and keep up the good work!

Death of the Mayoress of Oldham

We are devastated that Afsheen Chauhan has passed away at such a young age.

Our love and prayers are with Zahid, their wonderful children, her parents, family and friends.

She was an outstanding mum, a dear friend, and a warm Mayoress of Oldham supporting Zahid in his mayoral year.

We will miss her greatly.

May she rest in peace.

https://www.oldham.gov.uk/news/article/2655/oldham_mourns_passing_of_mayoress?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1P_gJdH1Ik4RTD04fBDxbLDggt-qrO9cPry0SeVrEsnEiHwhvWORVsHvY_aem_AXU5qQt_RjfPzGYfWUG3L84B7HREwXufbz1FvIwXMpjBt3yrMRZRFpI1VTkOv9GPSmCp-sFlNjkHLpEoPcq0OcO9

Digital Infrastructure Roundtable

Today I virtually attended a roundtable regarding the ongoing concerning digital infrastructure developments and installations we are seeing in Oldham, Greater Manchester and across the country.

The roundtable was encouraging, with many MPs committed to tackling this issue and asking the government to look at what they can do on an urgent basis to address our communities concerns.

I raised the issues we are having in Chadderton & Royton and the ongoing issues around siting, regulation and legacy concerns that we need to see addressed immediately to give a voice back to our communities.

The government said it would take our comments on board, and will be updating MPs with their course of action as soon as possible. I will make constituents aware of any changes we see off the back of the roundtable.

Bee Network Comes to Oldham

The Greater Manchester Bee Network expands to Oldham, Chadderton and Royton today.

Buses will run more frequency, later into the evening, earlier in the morning, and operate in the public interest.

Single ticketing across bus and tram and live bus times will make life much easier, and hopefully attract more people to use public transport.

It also shows that devolution works; undoing years of deregulation and empowering local political leaders to make the right calls.

tfgm.com/the-bee-network

5G Masts – Westminster Hall Debate

Today I held a Westminster Hall Debate in Parliament regarding the current issue with the installation of 5G & telecommunications masts and changes to national planning law which make these installations, among other issues like HMO conversion, far too easy for developers to secure.

The installation of equipment, whether it’s 5g or wireless broadband covers three main areas;

Firstly, Planning policy and permitted development. Secondly, guidance on siting of cabinets and poles. And thirdly, access to the existing network. I covered these areas in the debate, which you can view below.

In Oldham, we are seeing these main issues reflected in the installations in our communities. At Chadderton Hall Park, the installation abuts the children’s play area and the café, with no effort made to minimise the impact. This is mirrored at Denbydale Way in Royton, where we are seeing residents left feeling powerless to stop the installations outside their homes.

I have urged IXWireless to review the installation on Denbydale Way and suggested they remove it entirely or use infrastructure already available.

Our residents need a voice; we need to change the law to make meaningful consultation with residents a legal requirement, guidance on siting made legally binding to mitigate impacts on communities and finally to legislate to force companies to share the same infrastructure to fundamentally reduce the number of installations on our streets and in our communities, without reducing connectivity and capacity.

We have had success, however, in Oldham my office held a workshop in July last year, with residents from all communities coming together to meet with IXWireless to discuss the siting and appearance of poles, with many moved, though not all. Alongside this, the company have reached an agreement with the Council to seek ‘prior approval’ which does allow for more community consultation, however in law they could remove this good faith and continue under permitted development rules.

In response to the debate, the Minister offered a roundtable between MP’s to review and discuss how rules and changes to enforcement could be tightened up, this would be a welcome start.

Consistent Conservative top-down implementation must be changed, and community power respect.

You can view the full debate here;

https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/3b5d1bc0-1c14-4bfc-bf43-ce72089d5fda?in=16:00:00

Tomorrow’s Parliamentary Debate on 5G Masts

My office has been supporting a number of residents from across the constituency impacted by the roll out of 5g/wireless masts.

We have been engaging with the main equipment installer, IX Wireless, and held a residents workshop to go through each of the sites where concerns were raised.

Some progress has been made, and following our representations some have been removed or relocated. But there remains a big problem with the legal powers given to equipment installers and the weak protections for local communities.

I have secured a debate in parliament, tomorrow Wednesday at 4pm in Westminster Hall. Though I have raised the issue in the Commons before, this format allows a more detailed exchange to take place.

Thank you to residents who have contacted my office already but I’m keen to hear from anyone who has yet to get in touch to ensure we don’t miss any key points or issues.

After moving the debate the Government Minister will respond and I’ll ensure a full update is provided.

Thank you.