Office closes in housing shake-up

CHADDERTON housing office has closed and its Sholver counterpart will shut on July 20.

Two other housing offices‚ Holts Village and Holt Street in Greenacres, are also under review.

The shake-up is part of changes by First Choice Homes Oldham (FCHO), which manages the borough’s council houses.

It says that customers — young and old — want to contact the organisation by phone.

As a result, FCHO is developing its call centre and will centralise services at its headquarters in Medtia Square, Oldham.

At the same time, it will hold more local surgeries in neighbourhoods, while a spokesman confirmed that its area housing teams would remain.

Chief executive Hugh Broadbent explained: “Customers want just one telephone number and FCHO staff out and about in the community. That’s what they want — and that’s what they’ll get.”

Chadderton housing office moved from Chadderton Town Hall to Broadway House in 2007 to make way the borough’s new register office.

But that building has now closed along with the adjoining Broadway Library, which shut in May as part of a £20 million cost-cutting package.

A temporary library facility has opened at Turf Lane Community Centre. Chadderton South councillor Dave Hibbert has accused the council of relocating services to the town centre.

He said: “It was always the council’s intention to sell off the two buildings as a job lot.”

However, FCHO said that Broadway House was never an office open to the public.

Councillor John McCann, Cabinet member for community services and housing, added: “FCHO has done a review of staffing and where things are following a questionnaire that went out to every household.

“What people said was they actually want officers on the streets and services on the streets. There were offices with people sat in them and nothing happening. Rather than paying money to have a building, they are spending it on staff and services.”