Oldham sets out updated town centre vision
The council’s refreshed vision for the town centre, including an increased focus on housing, is to move forward with the first major developments due to get under way later this year.
Key sites in Oldham have been earmarked for development for some time, including the Prince’s Gate site at Oldham Mumps, which was originally due to be home to a Marks & Spencer.
This is now due to be developed into a Lidl and a hotel, with Lidl delivering a 28,560 sq ft supermarket on the site. Work is due to get under way in the autumn, while a planning application for a residential scheme on the site is expected to follow.
A refreshed masterplan setting out different development areas is also now being drawn up by the council. This will feature a mix of residential, education, offices, retail, and green space, as well as an area dedicated to boosting the town centre’s night-time economy.
The council’s cabinet is expected to move forward a series of schemes in its 2019/20 year; these include a review of public service accommodation requirements, a potential new market offer, an event space, a hotel and conferencing centre, and a potential education development.
Part of the focus will be to develop more housing within the town centre, although the exact number of homes to be built is yet to be defined. According to the council’s housing strategy, this will be a mix of private-rented, affordable, and “attractive” housing to draw in more aspirational homeowners.
The council will also sign off the potential use of compulsory purchase order powers when it meets on 24 June. Most of the land within the town centre masterplan area is within council or public sector ownership, but some remains private; this will need to be purchased for certain sites to come forward.
Cllr Hannah Roberts, cabinet member for housing, said: “A lot has changed since the last housing strategy was agreed. Oldham has rising numbers of families who need a home that meets their needs or who have no home at all and Government’s changing priorities in funding new homes give us ever bigger challenges in meeting these needs.
“That’s why our strategy sets out new ways of working which will help us develop a broader housing offer and meet the increased delivery of new, comfortable and warm homes.
“Our proposed new strategy identifies our key priorities for the next few years and our vision for how neighbourhoods might look in 20 years. We want to try and make sure that every resident, as well as those looking to live here, can find a home in a place they like and at a price they can afford.”
For updated read Dumbing down. Lidl instead of Marks and Spencer’s. Plus a Travelodge presumably.This was originally such an exciting development for Oldham and yet again people in a decaying Northern town are expected to accept second rate. A shocking indictment of the useless council in that town and poor representation in parliament.Low paid jobs and low ambition.
By Elephant
Much needed development. Let’s bring Oldham back to its Glory Days.
By A Cynical
since when as mumps been town center????
By malcolm cowen
Elephant – Lidl instead of M&S is nothing to do with the uselessness or otherwise of the council, or the quality of representation in parliament but has everything to do with the retail market in the UK and where the money is. If you want M&S or similar to develop you’ll be waiting a very long time as that type of retailer isn’t investing in the UK at the moment – in fact the precise opposite is the case with such retailers going through a sustained period of contraction.
By George I think she's got it.
Mumps has always been and always be part of Oldham town. It may not be in the centre but it was always a part of the shopping area of Oldham town. It’s good to see it is going to be revived.
By A Cynical
George- Actually M&S are building a new food hall in Ulverston, albeit closing their store down the road in Barrow.
By Matt C
Surely the council should be doing everything they can to attract new shops to Oldham no point in more car parks and more house if there is nothing else in Oldham but take away what about the high street and keeping the place clean actually getting people into the town instead of getting the Metrolink to go shopping else where it’s a bloody joke.
By Amanda ventress
Mumps was once Oldham’s Bond Street, when cotton was king. A depressing fact hard to imagine now. Difficult to imagine that there were shops there which had doormen.
By Elephant
Not sure Elephant is being fair. The excellent new cinema and restaurants / old town hall redevelopment, library, potential new theatre, new school on the Bloom Street site and now this show a Council trying pretty hard to improve its town centre. All for getting them to aim still higher, but criticising them for this is somewhat typical ‘Oldham bashing’.
By Depressed Latic
Depressed Latic possibly has a point and there have been improvements but I was born in Glodwick and the town has never been Monte Carlo but the decline particularly in the people has been very marked over the years. As Manchester goes through a second industrial revolution, Oldham unlike during the first one, does not seem to be benefitting from being close to it.
By Elephant