Going... going... gone

ALMOST down . . . D&M Demolitions knock down the flats and maisonettes in Primrose Bank

MORE than a 100 run-down flats and maisonettes have been demolished in Primrose Bank.

The properties, built in the 1960s, will be replaced by around 200 new homes close to Ashton Road on a major route into the town centre.

Contractors D&M Demolitions is hoping to clear the site by next summer with the first of the new homes completed by late 2010.

New homes will be available to rent and buy and the remaining council-owned homes will be refurbished.

Tenants have been offered advice, support and compensation packages to help them cope with the changes. Two consortia, Inspiral and Solutions for Oldham, are competing in the final stages of the bidding process for the contract to redevelop the estate and the preferred bidder will be chosen in the next few months.

The £181,000 clearance, funded by the Housing Market Renewal (HMR) programme, is part of the Gateways to Oldham project to improve major council estates under the Government’s private finance initiative (PFI).

Gateways to Oldham is a £131 million scheme which will also include a revamp of Crossley Estate in Chadderton and the Clarkwell estate in Coldhurst.