£10m health centre go-ahead hope

STATE-OF-THE-ART . . . How the Royton Health and Well-being Centre will look

A NEW £10 million health centre is being planned for Royton.

Community 1st Oldham Ltd has submitted plans for land bounded by Park Street/Macauley Street/Cardigan Street and Byron Street.

If given the green light, work on the first phase could begin as early as next year, replacing the current Royton Health Centre.

The plan is part of Oldham Primary Care Trust’s programme to spend £100 million to build 10 new health centres under the 20-year local improvement finance trust (LIFT) project.

The Royton Health and Well-being Centre will house two GP practices, a dentist, extended primary care facilities, treatment rooms and a pharmacy and serve as a base for nursing staff.

The second phase of work, which is being considered, will be the leisure facility, which includes a swimming pool, dance studio, library, gym, meeting rooms and a cafe.

This is expected to be modelled on the Chadderton Health and Well-being Centre bringing high quality, modern and accessible facilities under one roof.

The three storey centre will provide 93 full-time and 35 part-time jobs, mostly transferred from existing facilities.

The plan is recommended for approval and will be dealt with at tomorrow’s council planning committee at the Civic Centre.