Leaders say that they have been ‘all talk and no action’ on regeneration but forthcoming concrete plans for Oldham will prove to be a ‘game changer’.
At a cabinet meeting councillors were given an update on the progress of the ‘Creating a Better Place’ strategy which was established by the authority in January 2020.
Council leader Arooj Shah said that the long-awaited plans to redevelop Oldham Mumps with a new hotel and a Lidl store would be moving forward, with a planning application expected this year.
The strategy aims to build more than 2,000 more homes in the town centre, create a thousand new jobs to spur regeneration and ‘unlock’ more than £285 million of investment.
It has seen the authority purchase the Spindles Town Square Shopping Centre for £9.5m, and then buy the lease of the Topman for a further £300k.
Planning permission has now been granted for the demolition of the TJ Hughes unit in the centre, which will be replaced by the new Tommyfield market.
Under the proposals, which are yet to be formally submitted, the old market on Henshaw Street will be demolished and replaced with housing.
Lidl has also now confirmed it intends to move forward with creating a foodstore at the Prince’s Gate site in Mumps.
Coun Shah told the cabinet meeting that the plan was a ‘blueprint for Oldham’s future’.
“I know people think we talk the talk and make announcements but we haven’t yet walked the walk as far as regeneration is concerned and I think this is a complete game changer in that regard,” she added.
“People have been let down I think by successive plans that haven’t reached fruition, especially around Prince’s Gate, which is why I’m really happy that this report shows we’re turning a corner and that we’re seeing real activity so a completely fresh approach.
“For too long there’s been all talk and no action but not any more.”
She added: “The current TJ Hughes is going to be demolished in the next few weeks to make way for our new and improved Oldham market which we’ve been long waiting for as part of the redevelopment of Spindles to make it fit for the future.
“Also later this year an application will be submitted for a new Lidl and a hotel at Prince’s Gate and we know that that’s been something that we had to respond to for months and years on the doorstep.”
Coun Shoab Akhtar, cabinet member for economy and enterprise added: “Hopefully some of the no-good sayers that we’ve got in the borough, we’ll be able to quieten them now with the plans that we’ve got in front of us and the funding that’s in place.”
The financial section of the update on the Creating a Better Place strategy was discussed behind closed doors in a confidential section of the cabinet meeting.
