Leaders have agreed to formally accept £20m of Levelling Up funding which will go towards projects aimed at making Oldham the greenest borough in the region.
The borough was awarded millions from the second round of the national fund following a bid from the authority with the aim of boosting its ambition for Oldham to become a ‘top destination for green businesses’. However the second half of the council’s bid, for another £20m to develop a ‘creative improvement district’ in the town, including refurbishment of the Lyceum Theatre and Masonic Hall and the re-opening the Old Library, was not successful.
The borough was one of only three local authorities in Greater Manchester, along with Trafford and Wigan, awarded funding.
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The winning bid, which covered the Oldham East and Saddleworth constituency, was put forward to support the borough’s ‘green new deal’ commitment to being carbon neutral by 2030. At a meeting of the cabinet, councillors voted to formally accept the funding which will be split across three different projects.
Council leader Amanda Chadderton said: “It’s good to reinforce this, how successful our team are in attracting external investment into Oldham despite what some people claim. We’re only one of three authorities in Greater Manchester to be successful in the Levelling Up fund round two.
“So our successful bid was for green technology and our innovation network; the three projects they will fund are Jubilee Park and the Greenway corridor. This will create a sustainable network through the town centre and a new park to create a modal shift towards active travel.
“Secondly the Northern Roots learning centre to create an education suite to strengthen environmental skills with vocational courses.
“And thirdly the green shoots business centre at Rhodes Bank which is a new business incubation centre specifically for environmental technology start ups.
“Oldham wants to be the greenest borough in Greater Manchester and these projects will help us in that journey.”
She added: “Irrespective of what colour the government of the day is, it’s always pleasing to have the external validation into our plans within Oldham and to be recognised that we have the ambition and ability to deliver and that national government are willing to fund that.”
The Green Shoots business centre will take the biggest lump of the funding, with £8.81m going towards it. The centre is planned to open by August 2024. It will have 2,285 sqm of space for businesses of various sizes.
A further £6.4m will be spent on the Northern Roots Learning Centre, on which construction is predicted to start in March next year and the centre will be opening in April 2025.
The learning centre will be across 813 sqm of space, and together with the wider Northern Roots project which aims to create the UK’s largest ‘urban farm’ and eco park on land at Snipe Clough, will provide up to 150 volunteering opportunities and 28 traineeships and apprenticeships each year, officers say.
Lastly, the remaining £4.79m will go towards the new Jubilee Park and Greenway Corridor – part of the plans for a ’20 minute neighbourhood’ in Oldham. It will link the Green Shoots centre, the town centre, Jubilee Park and Northern Roots together so people can travel between them by bike or on foot.
The Greenway Corridor and park are both anticipated to open by March 2025, with construction beginning from spring next year.
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