OLDHAM Council has published the list of candidates for the local elections on Thursday, May 2.
There is a total of 90 candidates across Oldham’s 20 wards with one seat being contested in each area.
To view all of the candidates in full, visit Oldham Council’s website.
To register to vote, simply visit https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote and to register for a postal vote, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-a-postal-vote.
Here are the candidates for Royton Wards
ROYTON NORTH
Allan Fish Conservative Party
I am an optimist who believes Royton can and will be better than it is today. Put simply – it is the people who live here in Royton who make our town one of the most popular places to live in the borough.
I have lived in Royton for 45 years and what I will not do is gloss over our problems but I will look to fix them.
I want to fix the growing pothole problem that is plaguing our roads in Royton. We pay our taxes for our roads and highways to be fixed, so let’s fix them.
Councillors and council officers need to get out of Oldham Civic Centre and drive around our town to see the problem.
The Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) is a complete mess. Not only would it build thousands of homes over our greenbelt it has ignored local people.
I and your local Conservative team are opposed to the GMSF. We want to take back control of our greenbelt and make decisions here in Royton.
We – along with other parties – voted to leave the GMSF last year. But thanks to Labour councillors in Royton and Oldham, we were voted down on Oldham Council.
I have brought up my three children here, seven grandchildren and I am a member of the neighbourhood council.
I want to keep the best that Royton has to offer, but I also want to improve the rest. We must never accept the mediocre.
Clint Phythian Labour Party
I live in Royton with my family. I work as a self-employed painter and decorator in and around the Royton/Oldham area.
I serve as a governor at St Paul’s C of E primary school which my youngest daughter attends.
I am also part of the congregation at St Paul’s Church. I have been a councillor for nearly two years now and feel very honoured to serve the people of Royton North.
In my short time as a Royton North councillor, I have been elected Chair of the Royton district executive. I also serve on the planning committee, PVFM select committee and sub for two others.
I’m also overseeing the regeneration of Royton Town Hall and the town centre with us being entered into the Greater Manchester Mayor’s town centre challenge. I would feel honoured if the residents of Royton North re-elect me on May 2.
Russell Gosling Liberal Democrats
Russell lives in Royton and loves it but feels it has been let down. The scruffy precinct looks nothing like the glamorous promises.
And while being told Royton town centre is to being rejuvenated he has seen nothing happen.
Russell’s passion in life is his children and he wants them to grow up in a Royton which is healthy and safe.
A keen cyclist, he has also taken part in Born Survivor – the ultimate military assault course.
The plan to build on vast areas of green belt around Royton is scandalous. He was astonished all Royton councillors voted to keep in Manchester’s destructive plan.
He wants to fight it and Russell says there is a need for affordable housing in Royton, but not to the detriment of building on green belt. Start building on brownfield sites.
Young people need more healthy activities. There is no longer a youth centre or anywhere to do outdoor activities.
Russell believes more must be done to curb drugs and anti-social behaviour in the town centre.
The Liberal Democrats believe getting the basics right is important: having clean streets clear from dog fouling, litter and fly-tipping, working street lights and decent roads and footpaths.
That is why Russell is standing as a Liberal Democrat candidate for Royton North and he hopes to gain your support.
Lina Shaw Green Party
Lina has lived in Oldham for 18 years and works locally in accounts. She received her accounting qualification from Oldham College in 2010.
Lina is an active member of the community, working with the Depaul charity organisation, offering accommodation to vulnerable young people and providing guidance on what a better future could look like.
When she isn’t working hard in front of a computer, she spends time volunteering on a local organic farm.
She is concerned about the loss of green belt land and says: “We need more social housing, but we can achieve this without building on our green spaces.”
Like Green candidates across the country Lina will make a difference with fresh ideas, by listening to people and by taking action on local matters.
Lina is also keen to work with community organisations to increase positive local activities for our young people.
A vote for the Green Party in May is a vote for radical new thinking on our council.
Having one Green councillor in Oldham will mean new ideas put forward and greater scrutiny of old ones.
In Solihull, for example, Green councillors have exempted young care leavers from having to pay council tax – protecting vulnerable young people at a critical and challenging time.
In Altrincham, newly elected Green councillors passed a plan to phase out single use plastics in within two years. Across the country Green councillors work with communities to make a real difference to people’s lives.
Paul Goldring UKIP
UKIP statement by Paul Goldring, local party chairman
In the local election of councillors for Oldham, the local branch of UK Independent Party (UKIP) is fielding candidates in both Royton wards (Paul Goldring in North and Anthony Prince in South) plus in Crompton (Colin Jones) and Shaw (Rob Vance), as well as 10 others across the borough.
Local party chairman Paul Goldring advises that while UKIP is a national party it is also involved in local as well as EU (unfortunately) elections and has a growing membership in Oldham.
Borough-wide issues that affect Royton, Crompton and Shaw, as advised by the electorate on the doorstep include building on greenbelt which UKIP will oppose vigorously as long as brown field sites are available for development.
Also on UKIP’s long list of target subjects are council costs e.g. the money being paid to councillors in allowances; lack of policing on the streets which allows “petty crime” offenders to become emboldened; fly-tipping because of bins being emptied only one week in three; anti-social behaviour by tenants of multi-occupancy dwellings where police appear unable (or unwilling in this PC world) to deal with the resulting drug dealing, brothels, noise at night, and rubbish bins overflowing.
All this is causing the quality of life in the once proud town of Oldham to be sucked out of it with no end in sight as we continue to fall into ever deepening pot holes.
ROYTON SOUTH
Ken Berry Liberal Democrats
Ken welcomes the redevelopment of Royton town centre, because he feels it looks runs down but is disappointed by the lack of progress.
He would work with the developers to make sure the needs of all Royton’s residents are met.
Royton’s aging population faces increasing social isolation and is pleased that partners like Ambition for Ageing are trying to tackle this.
Ken is fully aware of the anti-social behaviour that has been seen in the town centre and would like to work with the young people to channel their activities in to something more productive.
He is challenging the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework proposals that Oldham’s Labour Council and the Conservative Government support, but Royton’s community do not.
He will challenge these proposals to ensure that disused property and existing brownfield sites are developed before precious green space is built upon.
He is aware that Oldham needs affordable housing and is keen to work with Oldham Council and organisations such as First Choice Homes Oldham to make sure demand is met using alternative methods.
The Liberal Democrats believe getting the basics right is important such as having clean streets clear from dog mess, litter and fly-tipping, working street lights and decent roads and footpaths.
That is why Ken is standing as a Liberal Democrat candidate for Royton South and he hopes to gain your support.
Steve Bashforth Labour Party
Steve has lived in Royton since the mid-1960s and will always put the best interests of Royton and its people first.
Steve has pledged his full and active opposition to any green belt development in Royton and will continue to use his experience to oppose anything which is against the interests of Royton’s people.
Steve is not a politician but is a grass roots councillor who has a long record of helping many individual Royton people and has always been involved Royton’s excellent community groups.
Steve is a founder member and first Chair of the Royton Royal British Legion branch and President of the Royton Veterans’ Bowling Club.
Among the many groups Steve has supported are local sporting clubs, Scouts, Brownies, Royton Local History Society the Heyside Neighbourhood Council and he is fully involved in the Royton Christmas and summer events.
A member of Royton Executive Committee, Community Forum, and Chair of the Oldham Planning Committee. Steve is a strong, straight-talking and credible voice for Royton who is not afraid of difficult issues and will never hesitate to use his considerable experience to the benefit of Royton and its people.
Ian Bond Conservative Party
Royton holds many special memories for me. I used to live just outside the town. I have family and friends living here. I learned the one and only dance I know here – my wedding dance.
This year’s local elections are some of the most important in recent years. Whilst those in Westminster do their best to ignore what the people of Oldham voted for, those in Greater Manchester continue to turn a blind eye to the outrage that is being shown over the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework.
Despite vocal opposition, the previous plans for Oldham and especially Royton, have been changed for the worse. Royton is now facing a severe threat to its greenbelt, and Labour are ignoring your voices.
Conservative Councillors supported a motion on the Council for Oldham to withdraw from the GMSF and have a local plan with a brownfield first policy.
This was defeated by the ruling group. Other Conservative candidates and I attended the protest march recently.
If elected, I would continue to oppose these plans, and offer an alternative voice on the Labour dominated Royton Executive.
But these elections are about more than just that. They are about our black bin collections being reduced to every three weeks.
They are about potholes, and Labour’s decision to halve the pothole budget. They are about Council Tax rising year on year as local services are being cut.
On May 2, think about our town and its future, and please lend me your vote.
Jim Stidworthy Green Party
Jim has lived in Oldham for more than 50 years with a wide working experience in the cotton mills, engineering, maintenance and street services.
Now retired, Jim is an allotment gardener and an active member of local Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth groups, as well as Beal Valley Rescue.
Deeply concerned with local, national and global social and environmental issues, Jim is working for a better world and future for his children, grandchildren, great grandchild and all of us.
In this election, the Green Party want to revive our local communities after years of devastating cuts.
Green councillors across the country are campaigning to restore the £50 billion of public money that has been taken from councils. Electing Greens sends a strong message to Westminster that people have had enough of losing long cherished public services.
A vote for the Green Party is also a vote to stand up for local and global environment.
Greens have a proud history of standing up for our green spaces. In Kirklees, where there have been Green councillors for over a decade, we haven’t just protected green spaces, we’ve managed to increase the amount of green space in the area.
Locally, Greens have joined community groups across Oldham to campaign against reckless developments on protected land. And we submitted a detailed response to the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework arguing for better protections for green spaces, as well as affordable housing linked in to the public transport network.
Anthony Prince UKIP
The candidate did not provide details by the time the Correspondent went to print.