A new era for Oldham as civic centre prepares to face the bulldozers

Oldham’s Civic Centre is set to be bulldozed to make way for 600 new homes.

The council and developers Muse plan to transform the almost 50-year-old building into a new town centre neighbourhood and park. 

Site investigations started last week (March 1), after more than 700 council employees relocated to the new council offices in the renovated first floor of the Spindles.

With remaining staff due to move to the council-owned shopping centre by the end of the month, the project is ramping up to the planning stage. 

Council leader Arooj Shah said: “I’m incredibly pleased to see the start of these works, which mark a huge moment not just for our town centre, but for all of us here in Oldham. 

“The Civic Centre is the biggest housing development site in the town centre with potential for 600 homes.

"This step feels like quite a big piece of the whole town centre falling into place.” 

A full plan is yet to be drawn up and submitted for planning permission.

But the Local Democracy Reporting Service has been told the Civic Centre building and the Queen Elizabeth Hall will be demolished.

Only the tower might remain, as developers are currently looking at ways to retain the ‘landmark’ of Oldham’s skyline. 

The Queen Elizabeth Hall, one of Oldham’s biggest event spaces, was built to commemorate the Queen’s silver Jubilee in 1977 and has since played host to star-studded shows from Jimmy Carr to professional Chase quizzer Mark Labbett.

But the venue, which was recently found by the council to contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), will be replaced by a new events space in the Spindles once construction is completed. 

The project is part of a wider plan to bring 2,000 new homes to Oldham.

Sites like the Civic Centre, the former Magistrates’ Court and the former Leisure Centre will be repurposed as part of the council’s commitment to build on ‘brownfield first’, making use of already developed sites instead of green spaces.   

With construction continuing on Spindles to complete a new venue for the Tommyfield Market, the restoration of the Old Library and works along the Oldham Way to upgrade the road system, council bosses recognise that the project will come with some inconveniences. 

Coun Shah said: “The level of improvement we’re delivering in the town centre does come with a level of disruption - but it’s time limited and once the work is done we’ll have a town centre that Oldhamers can be truly proud of, where they’ll want to live, work, spend their spare time and most importantly for local businesses, spend their money in.” 

She noted that the council wanted to hear from local people about what they want to see as part of those plans, to help the council “shape what our new town centre will become”.

Public consultations on the project are likely to start soon.

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