Oldham Council and Muse announce the start of their community conversation on town centre living

Last year, Muse and Oldham Council formed a long-term partnership to deliver up to 2,000 town centre homes over the next 15 years, a major part of the Council’s drive to deliver a local solution to the national housing crisis. Today they have unveiled the draft Development Framework, which outlines their approach to delivering these homes.

The Framework aims to deliver a range of homes, to buy and to rent, located within safe, inclusive and attractive neighbourhoods that everyone can enjoy. The overall vision is to create a town centre with character, thousands of new homes and an emphasis on sustainability, community and quality, which, in turn, will deliver more local jobs and learning opportunities for Oldhamers.

As part of the next phase, Muse and Oldham Council are holding a seven-week community conversation in the town centre with a series of events taking place from Wednesday, 24th July until Wednesday, 11th September. The first event takes place on Monday, 29th July at the Spindles Shopping Centre in the town centre where the local community will have an opportunity to speak to the project team about the proposals and to share their views.

Ahead of the launch of the community conversation, Councillor Arooj Shah, Leader of Oldham Council, commented: “It’s an exciting milestone for Oldham in our commitment to creating a brilliant new-look town centre. By partnering with an internationally-renowned developer in Muse we are building up to 2,000 new homes – an essential part of our work to deliver a local solution to the national housing crisis created over the past 14 years.

“It sits alongside the leisure and culture attractions, retail, and business facilities coming on stream. For example, since the first stage of the Spindles redevelopment, footfall to the shopping centre has increased by 1,000 people daily. Together with Muse, we are creating new town centre living options, helping to make us one of the most exciting and dynamic places in Greater Manchester once again.”

Phil Mayall, Managing Director at Muse, added: “We want Oldham to be a hub for successful local businesses, a destination characterised by quality homes, leisure and outdoor spaces, and a family-friendly place that reflects its heritage as a thriving northern town.

“Working together with residents, businesses, local community groups, educational institutions, regional partners and charitable organisations will be fundamental to unlocking a framework that captures the essence of the town and its local community in order to deliver the new homes Oldham needs.”

Following this summer’s community conversation, the Development Framework will be updated to reflect the community’s feedback. It will then be reviewed by Oldham Council’s Cabinet for adoption. Once approved, the Development Framework will be used by Oldham Council’s Planning Committee when considering planning applications brought forward in the five Character Areas.

The Development Framework identifies five key town centre locations for these new homes. They are called Character Areas, with each contributing to making Oldham an even better place to live, work and play. These Character Areas are:

• The Civic and Residential Quarter
• The Retail Core
• The Cultural & Creative Quarter
• Eastern Edge and Oldham Mumps, and
• Western Edge and Educational Quarter

For more information, contact information for the project team and a calendar of community events, visit www.OldhamTownLiving.co.uk. Printed materials are available on request.