Cottam Street Pocket Park to open soon

Oldham Council is opening a new park for children and families to enjoy.

Cottam Street Pocket Park will be officially unveiled during the coming weeks.

The new facility - built on the former Pine Mill site near Oldham Royal Hospital - has been years in the planning and will be a great addition to the area.

The park has a unique play wall for interactive play, climbing and exercise.

It also features swings, a large tunnel slide, play terraces and other stimulating landscape features and planting across the whole park to encourage exploration and increased activity.

Funding for the park has come from Section 106 funding following the sale of Westwood Park.

A multi-sports pitch will be also be completed later this year which will be open for the whole community to use.

Children from nearby St Hilda’s C of E primary school have been heavily involved in the park project, working alongside council staff and local artist Jack Doyle.

The youngsters have produced artwork which has been built into structures within the new park

The schoolchildren have taken great interest in the site, using it for other educational projects of their own.

They have now put together the Cottam Street Exhibition, which contains details of the site’s history, artwork, models and samples taken over the course of the project.

A spot in Gallery Oldham’s Community Gallery has been secured for the display and it will be open to the public to view from Saturday, March 24.

Councillor Barbara Brownridge, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Co-operatives, said: “This new pocket park will be a great place for children and their families to visit, enjoy and have fun in

“The weather is getting better so there’s no better time to get out there and enjoy these new facilities.

“The whole project has been a collaborative approach and if you are interested how it came about then we’d urge you to along and see the exhibition at Gallery Oldham.”

The Cottam Street Exhibition runs until May 12.