New regeneration programmes funded by central government and the European Union are transforming large parts of Oldham. Economic themes enjoy a high priority in each of the four project areas.
The main aims are to create a significant number of new jobs, provide more development opportunities, improve security and the environment so businesses can prosper.
Funding will be used to exploit the inward investment potential around the Hollinwood Junction of the M60 Manchester Outer Ring Round and further enhance the business and commercial profile of the town centre. Communities in the target areas which cover the Borough's most deprived wards can also expect to benefit from a range of education, housing, health and youth-focused initiatives.
Oldham has enjoyed real success in recent years rejuvenating its retail and cultural core and main business areas. Over £100 million has been invested in a new central bus station, the award winning Gallery Oldham and an extension of the Town Square retail development, further strengthening the competitive position of the town centre within the region.
Oldham Broadway Business Park is a good example of what can be achieved with difficult brownfield land. The site comprised the disused Chadderton power station, a sewage works and two refuse tips and presented the Council with a major reclamation challenge. Today it is a modern fully-developed 36.4 ha (90 acres) business location with a high quality infrastructure.
The Government has allocated £53.5 million over 10 years from its New Deal for Communities program to improve opportunities in Oldham's Hathershaw and Fitton Hill districts. The package of assistance has been boosted to £87 million by £37 million of other public, European and Lottery money. Biggest spend will be directed at improving council and private housing stock, removing barriers to employment, supporting business and creating jobs. Resources are also being devoted to training, business start-up activity and the creation of new commercial and industrial zones on derelict and former mill sites.
Oldham has also attracted £20m from Round 6 of the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) to tackle deprivation in Werneth and Hollinwood and parts of Failsworth and Chadderton. Spread over six years, the partnership program is administered by the Northwest Development Agency but delivered locally. It concentrates on eight social, economic and environmental themes and is expected to generate match funding of £55 million.
Grant assistance is available to businesses located or intending to locate in the SRB area. These include a wage subsidy paid to employers as an incentive to recruit local residents, help with improving business premises, an environmental efficiency scheme and a business start-up program
Oldham has also been awarded Economic Development Zone status which has attracted £8 million from the European Regional Development Fund for a major redevelopment program around the town centre in advance of the arrival of the Metrolink light rail system extension. It is expected to stimulate £13 million of other public and private sector investment.
The money will be spent assembling brownfield land adjacent to Oldham Way for development resulting in about 30,000 sq m (322,000 sq ft) of premises for office and light industrial use. Several environmental and transportation schemes are also planned including cycle ways, bus priority routes and park and ride.
Oldham has also been singled out by the NWDA as one of the key authorities to benefit from the Agency's increased funding allocation. It intends to build a strategic relationship with the Council to improve the Borough's business infrastructure, reclaim more derelict land and promote renaissance through the use of urban design and quality architecture. It has indicated there will be more money available for developments along the M60 and Rochdale Canal corridors.
Oldham is already working with the NWDA to tackle derelict, unused and neglected land through its involvement with the Association of Greater Manchester (AGMA) Derelict Land Strategy Group and the New Leaf, Newlands, and Pennine Edge Forest grant programmes funded by the NWDA.
These programmes form an important part of the Regional Economic Strategy's objective to transform the environmental deficit in the region, whilst also helping to promote and enhance the image and competitiveness of Oldham, the Greater Manchester area, and the wider region.
The £53 million program runs from 2002-2012 and addresses five key themes - crime, the environment, health, housing and unemployment. It targets Hathershaw and Fitton Hill, an area to the south of the town centre. An elected board, half of whose members are local residents, has the final say in how the money is spent.
Contact:
New Deal for Communities
Borough Mill,
Neild Street,
Hathershaw,
Oldham,
OL8
1Q9.
Tel: 0161 785 9716
Fax: 0161 785 7839
E-mail:
ndcteam@oldham.gov.uk
For more information on New Deal for Communities you can visit the NDC web site.
Public investment of £20 million will be deployed between 2001-2008 to support regeneration along the Manchester Road corridor in Werneth and Hollinwood. The money will be used to create jobs, support business, assist pre-16 education and lifelong learning, build sustainable communities, reduce crime, improve health, boost environmental infrastructure and image and support young people.
Contact:
Strategy & Resources
Strategy
& Performance
Level 14, Tower Block
Civic
Centre
West Street
Oldham
OL1 1UL
Tel: 0161 770 5146
Fax: 0161 770 5172
E-mail:
shirley.allen@oldham.gov.uk
For more information on this scheme you can visit the SRB6 web site.
European funding of £8 million is available until 2006 for a range of economic development initiatives in the central wards around Oldham town centre which have been designated as an Economic Development Zone (EDZ). The initiative includes direct grant assistance to capital/employment developments.
Contact:
Regeneration Department
PO Box
452
Oldham Business Centre,
Cromwell Street,
Oldham,
OL1
1WR
Tel: 0161 770 4133
Fax: 0161 770 4488
E-mail:
steve.hopley@oldham.gov.uk
The Pennine Edge Forest programme (a partnership initiative between Oldham, Rochdale, Tameside & Stockport Councils, the Forestry Commission, and United Utilities) aims to deliver community forestry and environmental regeneration within the Greater Manchester area whilst also creating significant economic and social benefits.
For more information visit the Pennine Edge Forest web pages.
Contact:
Regeneration Department
PO Box
452
Oldham Business Centre,
Cromwell Street,
Oldham,
OL1
1WR
Tel: 0161 770 4168
Fax: 0161 770 5172
E-mail:pef@oldham.gov.uk