LaticMark

In 1897 the licensee of the Featherstall and Junction pub, John Garland, his son, Fred, and a few pub regulars decided to form a football club. They rented out a pitch next to, and under the shadows of, the Pine Mill. Pine Villa was born . . .

Fair point. Latics have been prepared to move out of Oldham (town) for a while as the plans to move to Chadderton or Failsworth demonstrate. In 1974 Saddleworth could have been a part of Tameside, and Middleton was originally going to be a part of Oldham (borough). A lot of people seem to be attaching a great deal to an administrative borough that was set up to run (ruin?) local government services. Although there is no desire on the part of national governments to radically re-organise local government, it doesn't mean that OMBC is here for ever! If the council had taken a generic name like Tameside or Trafford some peoples views might be a little different. real: Do you know of 30 acres of spare land in Middleton?

The Secretary of State for Communities, Eric Pickles, recently talked about councils merging services or even merging all together. If Oldham and Tameside councils merged we would still be in the borough . . .

Chesterfield and their B2 Net Stadium is mentioned in the Chron article as well! No avenue is off limit is one other headline - but then says a groundshare with Rochdale is unlikely. It also mentions junction 22 at Hollinwood as Oldham's major regeneration area! John Battye - remember him - thinks the CC decision set any plans back 18 months to 2 years.

The CC's decision: Following a thorough review of all the material submitted to us we have reached the decision that we are unable to authorise the Council to proceed. This is because, on the basis of the information provided to us we are unable to conclude that the proposal is expedient in the interests of the charity. We are required to reach this conclusion before we can agree to, and authorise, the proposal to exchange the land in question. I have set out below the reasons that have informed our decision, and which have been communicated to the Council. 1. THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS: From the evidence supplied it appeared that the final decision taken by the Council’s Failsworth Trust Committee failed to take account of some factors and issues that were relevant, whilst taking account of some factors that should not have been relevant. For example, on the one hand there was insufficient attention given to the feasibility of retaining the land, whilst on the other there was consideration of outcomes to be achieved under the proposed redevelopment that were not relevant to the Committee's decision. On the basis of the evidence supplied concerning the consultation, this process was not sufficient. In our view, local residents were not given sufficient opportunity to respond, and those who did respond to the consultation were not in a position to make an informed response. It follows that the Trust Committee appointed to make the decision for the Council could not have made a fully informed decision, because they did not have sufficient evidence of beneficiaries’ views or about how those views had been, or were to be, addressed. The majority of people who did respond to the consultation rejected the proposal but we have seen no evidence that the concerns raised by these beneficiaries were considered and addressed. 2. MANAGEMENT OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: There is evidence that insufficient independence was secured in appointing the Trust Committee for it to be able to make an unconflicted decision. In particular two out of the three members of the Trust Committee were too conflicted to participate in the decision: this meant there was not a quorum of Committee members eligible to participate in the decision. It also appears that the Trust Committee did not actively consider conflicts of interest concerning the impact of the re-development proposals on the value of the adjoining land, which is in the ownership of the Council, and how that might affect the value of the charity’s land. 3. WHETHER THE SWAP PROPOSAL WOULD SERVE THE CHARITY’S INTERESTS: From the information provided, there is no clear evidence that the Trust Committee had access to, or considered, certain key pieces of information relevant to their decision. This particularly relates to the value of the site in question, of the Park as a whole, and of adjoining land, both in their present use and under revised use following re-development. CONCLUSION: In order to authorise the Council as trustee to proceed with the decision it has made, the Commission would need to be satisfied that the decision was expedient in the interests of the charity. Given the issues raised above we are unable to reach that conclusion. On the evidence supplied, we are unable to conclude that the decision was fully informed or that the conflicts of interest were properly managed and that the charity's interests are best served by the proposal. We have therefore decided we are unable to provide the authority that has been requested. This decision is based on the information we received in the Council’s application for authority. It remains open to the Council to consider submitting additional information, or whether it can address the issues we have highlighted to allow a fully informed decision to be taken, with the conflicts of interest managed. It could then make a further application to the Commission for authority of this new decision. If a further application is received the Commission will give due consideration to whether the Council has been able to address the issues fully and sufficiently.

UK inflation jumped in December 2010 with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rising to 3.7%, up from 3.3% in November. Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation - which includes mortgage interest payments - rose to 4.8% from 4.7%.

It's snow joke, as Alan Hardy contemplates avoiding another financial meltdown at Boundary Park.

Woof(ta).

Latics finished 19th in the old Division 4 in the 1969-70 season. Mouldy Old Dough, by Lieutenant Pigeon, was released in 1972. According to Wikipedia it was written by Nigel Fletcher and Rob Woodward, and recorded in the front room of Woodward's Coventry home. It featured his mother Hilda Woodward on piano. The words were a comment on the decimal currency recently introduced to the United Kingdom. It is the only British number one single to feature mother and son. I can remember seeing the band, with back to back pianos, on TOTP, and hearing this 'new' song at BP. It always reminds me of Latics and BP!

Whatever happened to Vidar Fossdal?

Allegedly!

If the process of legal appeals is as slow as it normally is, we won't have an MP until the next general election!!! Woolas' first application for a judicial review was rejected today at the High Court. Judge Mr Justice Silber said it was "not amenable to judicial review because it is a decision of High Court judges sitting in their capacity as High Court judges". He said it was "settled law" that the decisions of High Court judges sitting in their capacity as High Court judges "cannot be subject of applications for judicial review". That's crystal clear then!!!

Can I just say that I quite liked Phil Woolas. Now, why did I type past tense?? Will all of this have any impact on Latics, as I thought we got more support from Woolas than we did from Michael Meacher?

I presume FCUM is not swearing?

"Right decision, wrong time" says Paul Dickov about the game being called off. The conditions were the same at 6pm!

Keep your stubs says the man from Rochdale on Radio Manchester.

Davies and Whitaker score for Chesterfield, with Lomax and Smalley warming their bench!

Simon Corney, on Radio Manchester, has said that Latics fans won't have to pay for their ticket for the rearranged match, although we've not heard from Rochdale yet! Hope everyone has kept their ticket stubs!

You could wear a badge saying "I'm LaticsLee and I do it for free" Poundland is moving to the old Woolworth's store in the High Street

Bang in four for Oldham!

It's our secret weapon and we've just invaded your computer!

The new series of 'Heroes' begins 9 pm Tuesday!