Dobir M Miah
Labour Party
Bamford Ward
It is my privilege to be the Labour candidate for Bamford in this year’s local election. It is a chance to elect a Labour councillor in Bamford and end the Tory monopoly which has had a detrimental effect on the ward. With your support, I would represent all the people in Bamford, Oakenrod, Brimord & Marland and do my best to defend Bamford from the massive Coalition cuts that have already reduced funding for our Council by £158 million (over the last 3 years) - the 13th biggest cut of any Council in England! And the cuts don’t end there, as a further 51 million will be cut during 2015-2017 (unless of course we send Mr Cameron & Mr Clegg packing in 2015!
I am passionate about standing up for local democracy and giving a voice to our communities. I am married and work as a self-employed Business Management & Development Consultant with my firm based in Rochdale. I employ local people & serve local businesses. I am a qualified Teacher, Youth and Substance Misuse Worker and have been a Community Mediator for Rochdale MBC for 5 years. In addition, I sit on the Independent Advisory Group for Greater Manchester Police as well as serve on a number of charities. I also know the effects that the Coalition cuts are having on ordinary people as I was made redundant as a direct result of budget cuts after 8 years’ service with Rochdale MBC.
Locally in Bamford there are many issues to tackle; having spoken to locals below I have prioritised some of my key pledges if elected:
- Tackle Burglaries; I will work with Community Safety and look at ways of reducing burglary including introducing more home safety measures and neighbourhood watch schemes. Your Labour controlled council has allocated continued burglary reduction scheme with capital investment in this financial year.
- Pot Holes / Road surfacing; I will work to keep our highway network in reasonable condition and ensure paths, pavements and roads are repaired where it is needed. Your Labour controlled council has invested a further £4 million to the already delivered £6 million of highways capital investment in the Borough – I will make sure Bamford gets it’s fair share.
- Road Safety; I will work with GMP and the Community Safety Unit to ensure road safety is addressed and traffic calming measures are put in place where needed.
- Youth facilities; I will work with the local communities and the Youth Service to ensure that adequate provision for our youth is provided from youth clubs to play areas.
- I will fight to protect Greenbelt, brownfield and garden sites from unsuitable development, as Bamford has such nice pleasant green areas.
- I will defend our NHS services; the Health Service, our NHS, is under a massive threat from Tory/Lib Dem policies. For example, 49% of local hospital beds being filled by private patients. This top-down re-organisation of the NHS will cost £3 billion and will lead to more privatisation and a health service where the ability to pay is more important than one’s needs.
- I will work to protect local services; despite the disproportionate cuts to Rochdale’s budget compared to councils in the South East, the Labour administration has managed to protect Libraries, Sure Start & Community Centre’s across the Borough.
- One of my key commitments to the residents of Bamford is that I will be out and about more regularly throughout the year not just at election time, I have always interacted with members of the community in my work and voluntary roles, and you can be assured that if you give me the honour of being your Councillor that is what I will be doing throughout the year.
I am opposed to Government plans to allow fracking all over the North West. This will have a devastating impact on our countryside and communities - fossil fuel only adds to the serious problem of climate change. I will campaign to any threats faced locally.
The Council tax has also been frozen for this year (2014-2015) by your Labour led Council despite the difficulties faced by the huge cuts from the Tory/Lib Dem Coalition Government. However, Council tax bills have risen slightly due to increased Policing costs. The Police precept - over which the Council has no control, has risen by 1.99 per cent.
George Osborne’s budgets are no doubt hurting the majority of Bamford residents. The latest budget claims our economy is fixed! I don’t think I have to tell you how broke it is!!! We’re seeing wages falling and so many millions of families are facing cost of living crisis, with many families £1600 a year worse off - A worse off Budget from an out of touch Chancellor!
Labour would end the exploitative use of zero-hours contracts which leave as many as 1 million families across the UK unable to plan for the future or know if they can afford basic necessities week-by-week.
On May 22nd, send a message to David Cameron and Nick Clegg that you don’t like what they have done to our National Health Service, that you don’t like their attack on pensioners’ tax allowances and you don’t like the lack of any policies to promote growth and reduce the increasing number of unemployed people, especially the young.
The only way you can send that message to Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg is by voting Labour. Elections in Bamford are now between Labour and Conservative. The Liberal Democrats have collapsed in Rochdale, in the last Local Council Elections, the Lib Dems failed to win a single ward out of the 20 wards in Rochdale. Labour is the only alternative to the Conservatives in Bamford and it sure is time for a change!
With your support I can work with you to protect and develop your community. I hope you will be kind enough to vote for me on Thursday May 22nd so that I can speak up and represent ALL the people in Bamford.
IT’S TIME FOR A CHANGE IN BAMFORD.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, if you have any questions or want to make contact – please see below for my details. Please vote Labour on Thursday 22nd May in the Local Council & Euro elections.
Thank you.
Dobir Miah
Email: dobir@ileadassociates.com
Twitter: @dobirmiah
Facebook: facebook.com/dobir
