Cllr Ioan Williams - Saddleworth North

09/10/2026

Seems I ruffled a few feathers.........

Some strong words there.

09/10/2026

My god I wish this fella would stop following me about!!
Seriously though absolutely fantastic and inspiring to have Richard Tice at the Town Hall last night updating us on Reforms plans for their first 100 days in Government. Bookies reckon May 27 may be a possibility before Burham loses his bounce and people realise he’s Starmer 2.0 in jeans.
Reform Councillors from Oldham, Rochdale and Tameside in attendance.

08/10/2026

With the interim governance arrangement now in place after the last full council meeting the important committee work can start again.
I attended the Place, Economic Growth and Environment scrutiny meeting last night at the JR Clynes building.
We discussed the social housing improvement plan plus food safety delivery and the problems being faced by this department and what measures are being taken to reduce the backlog of inspections.
Greeted by a rainbow as I arrived for the scheduled 6pm start.

06/10/2026

A Reform UK Govt would reverse this. There’s plenty of brown field sites in Oldham that could be targeted but it’s not as profitable for the builders.
Protect our Green Belt from this Labour land grab. Vote Reform

LABOUR IS TAKING PLANNING POWER AWAY FROM LOCAL COUNCILLORS

This is Labour's plan and people need to understand exactly what is changing.

From 31 October, councillors across England will lose much of the power they currently have to drag planning applications before a committee. The old system where a ward councillor could call an application in, or where enough public objections could force greater scrutiny, is being stripped back under Labour's national planning rules.

That matters in Oldham.

We have already seen councillors, including Reform councillors, challenge HMO applications they believe are simply not fit for the area for one reason or another. Sometimes it is parking. Sometimes it is the character of the neighbourhood. Sometimes it is the concentration of HMOs. Sometimes residents simply know their own street better than someone sat behind a desk.

Under Labour's new system, many of those decisions will increasingly sit with planning officers rather than the councillors people actually elected.

And then there is the big one.

GREEN BELT.

Labour has already changed national planning policy as part of its drive to build far more houses and release more land for development. The government itself says it wants a substantial increase in housing supply and has changed the approach to Green Belt land as part of that programme.

So you can see why people are suspicious.

Councillors can reject a development. Residents can object. Communities can say enough is enough. But the direction of travel from Westminster is clearly towards faster development, more housing and less local political control over individual planning decisions.

And with illegal immigration and asylum accommodation already putting extra pressure on housing and public services, plenty of people will ask the obvious question: why is the government so determined to weaken local control at the same time it is desperate to increase housing numbers?

The loss of local control is real.

The changes to Green Belt policy are real.

The push for dramatically more housing is real.

And from 31 October, councillors and residents will have less power over many individual planning applications than they have today.

That should concern anyone who believes Oldham should have a proper say over what gets built in Oldham.

05/10/2026

Latest Roadworks update for Saddleworth North.

04/10/2026

Enjoyable evening last night with the missus watching The Saddleworth Constable at the Millgate theatre in Delph.
My wife’s friends with Jane Connor who was making her acting debut in this production, although you’d have thought she’d been doing it for years.
Congrats to all involved, very sentimental and funny production.
If you’ve never been to this intimate venue I’d highly recommend it.

01/10/2026

So our unelected Prime Minister Andy Burham has completed his first conference speech.
However you don’t have to scratch too far under the surface to see it’s the same old Labour just with a cheeky chappy northern bloke offering Hope now at the helm.
Just one of us, a man of the people, he’d have us believe however he’s just Starmer in jeans rebranded to be more relatable to voters.
Look at the internal Labour memo to its staff, all very calculated, just Liebour spin as usual.

23/09/2026

Putting the record straight, don’t believe the conspiracists. Vote Reform get Reform. Next May’s elections will be be pivotal and we need supporters to keep the faith. Our competitors want to portray we are divided however this makes us more determined to Unite behind our leader for the betterment of Oldham.

22/09/2026

Great to meet Andy Holian, Neighbourhood Sergeant, at Uppermill Police Station tonight.
I wanted to cement ties with our local police and do my bit to help make our communities safer.
We discussed burglary, resources and speeding amongst other topics.
Really impressed with Andy and his team who are taking a proactive approach with more visible policing which is helping cut crime.
Keep up the good work.

17/09/2026

Slightly more detailed account following my initial post last night.