Local Election 2016

Dobir Miah

Labour Party
Norden Ward

It is my privilege to be the Labour candidate for Norden in this May’s local election. It is your chance to elect a Labour councillor in Norden and end the Tory monopoly which has failed to speak out and defend local services in Norden. With your support, I would represent all the people in Norden, Birtle, Caldershaw, Red Lumb & Ashworth and do my best to defend Norden from the massive Tory cuts that have already reduced funding for our Borough by over £200 million over the last 6 years.

I am passionate about standing up for local democracy and giving a voice to our communities. I am married with one child 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 in Rochdale for 6 years.

In addition, I am a director of a community social interest company that provides health & wellbeing to communities in Rochdale and operates a self-sustaining community cafe. I sit on the Independent Advisory Group for Greater Manchester Police as well as serving on a number of charities. I also know the effects that the Tory 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.

In Norden there are many issues to tackle. I have spoken to local voters and with their help I have prioritised some of my key pledges if elected:

• Fly-tipping/Litter. Many local residents have raised concerns about fly-tipping. Your Labour controlled council has made no cuts to road sweeping / street services – a further £1 million is being invested for street cleaning & an extra 250 bins will be fitted throughout the borough. I will ensure that Norden is kept clean by the Clean & green teams, parks & grounds are adequately maintained, grotspots are removed and anyone found to be dumping rubbish is prosecuted. 
  
  
• 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 supported a continued burglary reduction scheme with capital investment in this financial year & grants will be made available to set up Homewatch schemes.
  
  
• 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 not made cuts to Highways but instead will invest a further £1 million to deal with pot holes & resurfacing – I will make sure Norden gets its 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. Speeding through the village is still a dangerous problem for everyone.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• Norden’s Greenbelt. I will do everything possible to protect the green belt around Norden which is threatened by the Conservative changes to the planning system. I am also opposed to Conservative plans to allow Fracking all over the North West. 
  
  
• Local services despite the disproportionate cuts to Rochdale’s budget compared to councils in the South East, the Labour Council has managed to protect Norden Library and Norden SureStart children’s centre. It also plans to enrol every child in the Library and install more computers. The Council also plans an extra 100 allotments across the Borough and I fully support the plans to develop Norden’s Allotments. 

The Council tax has been increased slightly for this financial year (2016-2017) by 3.6%. The blame for 2% of this council tax increase lies squarely at the door of the Conservative Government who will not provide the funding for the Care services that the most vulnerable in our communities need and deserve. Our core plans are set out in the Labour Manifesto.

Please take a moment to read this at:
http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/uploads/f1/news/document/2016410_211241.pdf

The next chance to vote for your Councillor will be 2018 and by then it may be too late to save essential local services in Norden.

• Local Pharmacies; In September the Conservatives are cutting the funding going to Pharmacies. This especially hits small, family pharmacies and up to 3,000 will shut across England by 2020. A lot of people in Norden depend on this service.
  
  
• Parent Governors; The Conservatives are phasing out parent governors by 2020 breaking the important local link between the school and its community. Explaining this, the Education Secretary said that parents were not qualified enough to be governors.
  
  
• The N.H.S; Our local hospitals and GP surgeries are under unprecedented pressure. In England 1 in 3 GP posts are unfilled, hospitals have 6,000 doctor posts and 22,000 nurses posts unfilled, funding for GP surgeries as a % of the NHS budget has fallen since 2010, waiting times are increasing.
  
  
• Academisation of Schools; By 2021 Norden’s two schools will be forced to become Academies and will be run by private trusts, often based hundreds of miles away. Both schools have good Ofsted ratings and there is no need to disrupt something that is working well. This also means that the school buildings and playing fields, paid for by everyone, will no longer belong to the community. Across England this disruption will cost £1.3 Billion pounds, money that would be better spent on your children, and it will cost the Council at least £12,000 in fees for every school involved.

Conservative policies and George Osborne’s budgets are no doubt hurting the majority of Norden residents. It is very important for local councillors to stand up and fight for local services. Unfortunately for all the people of Norden the 3 Conservative councillors have not done this, standing by without making a comment. Only by voting Labour will people have a Councillor willing to challenge these damaging policies.

With your support I will work with you to protect services and develop Norden ward. I hope you will be kind enough to vote for me on Thursday 5 May so that I can speak up and represent ALL the people in Norden. The next few years won’t be easy by any means but I promise as your councillor, that I and the Labour Council will continue to work towards a better Rochdale.

One of my key commitments to the residents of Norden is that I will be out and about 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.

STANDING UP NOT STANDING BY.

LABOUR WILL STAND UP FOR YOU and YOUR COMMUNITY.

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 5 May in the Local Council elections.

Thank you.
Dobir Miah
Email: info@dobirmiah.co.uk
Twitter: @dobirmiah or @norden_labour
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nordenlabour