Partner wanted to kickstart Mumps rebirth

A NEW artist’s impression of the Marks and Spencer Princess Gate store

OLDHAM Council is searching for an investment partner to bring the Prince’s Gate development to life.

Cabinet members last night gave the go-ahead to start a selection hunt for the regeneration scheme at Oldham Mumps. The development will transform that end of the town centre with new shops and up to 800 homes.

If the partnership is successful, the same type of joint working could be used to develop other council-owned sites across Oldham - and the model could be used by other councils to help them get challenging regeneration projects off the ground.

Council leader Jim McMahon said: “Prince’s Gate at Oldham Mumps is a fantastic opportunity to deliver our most ambitious scheme for the town centre since the 1980s and we’re delighted to start the process of finding our delivery partner.

“Given the spirit of working as a City Region we thought that we shouldn’t go through this process without allowing for other Greater Manchester councils to join at a later stage, potentially saving time and public money

“It starts with a foundation bank of projects worth in excess of £100 million (and including around 1,000 residential units) in Oldham but will soon be rolled out as an opportunity to our neighbouring authorities.

“There are many benefits to getting involved — not least being the ability for councils to retain an interest and a say in the development of strategic sites.”