Oldham Levelling Up Partnership Meeting

Today, I met with the Levelling Up minister to discuss the Levelling Up Partnership proposed for Oldham.

I’ve always approached working with government over the past 14 years with pragmatism and though I don’t shy away from highlighting where I feel we are being let down, I have a responsibility to secure the best possible deal for Oldham, Chadderton and Royton.

We discussed the schemes proposed by Oldham Council in and around the town centre, and the gathering of community voices and groups to develop plans across the constituency, including Chadderton and Royton.

Housing is a key driver for much of the development, ensuring brownfield first is realised by gap funding developments which may not otherwise be financially viable, and bringing forward infrastructure.

There are huge pressures on those wanting to get onto the housing ladder, or who may want to downsize, and there are 7,500 families on the housing waiting list. Of these 500 children are currently in temporary accommodation with whole families sharing single rooms.

In addition, I asked that partnership is used to support the urgent need to address crime and specifically organised criminal exploitation and the carrying of weapons.

I am keen to see a new police station with fully operational custody cells, ample parking, and ideally a centre for justice which includes a court room so that end to end justice can be delivered in the borough. The current building is well beyond its life, and the custody cells have been closed for too long with prisoners being transferred to Ashton or as far as Wigan for processing, and we know since the closure of the magistrates’ court and county court that there are no court cases held here.

Separately I raised the need for much better coordination across government, and that funding which is allocated is properly tested to ensure it is used to promote community integration across Oldham; through social, education, housing, work, and shared spaces. I believe that the focus on community cohesion needs to be sharper, especially as I witness division being stoked too regularly, and segregation at risk of becoming more deep-rooted.

I also raised transport connectivity and the need for better cross borough routes, in particular ones which join key employment sites together. I’ve raised before the orbital tram which would connect to the Bury line via Middleton, connecting through to Oldham Westwood, then from Oldham Mumps to Ashton.

These ideas take a long time to come to anything, but they need planning early to rule in or out what’s possible and could carry public support.

Finally, I used the opportunity to mention the funding application for AVRO FC and its community partners at Whitebank Road, and I sincerely hope this comes to fruition through the Community Ownership Fund.

I want to thank Oldham Council for the significant amount of work they have been doing to meet an extremely tight timetable to present schemes and a plan to government.

The three significant schemes in the headline bid include Northern Roots Learning centre for vocational education, Oldham Gateway, and Green Shoots enterprise centre.