New Deal is proving to be the real deal

Proposed Neighbourhood Centre in Fitton Hill.

NEW Deal for Communities continues to be a success story.

Over the last 15 months, the NDC team in Hathershaw and Fitton Hill has worked tirelessly to help create a confident and united community.

It has gone a long way to achieve its key plans of helping to turn around the Hathershaw and Fitton Hill areas, some of the most deprived wards in Oldham.

Target spending for 2008-09 has been hit, with £7,037,112 going on schemes and projects, and it is also on track with overall project spending.

A total of £47,950,246 has been spent so far, leaving £5,579,754 available until the project comes to an end in 2011.

The team is currently working with the council to get a charitable status to ensure the NDC’s work continues after then.

And a report on establishing a successor body to NDC will be discussed at a future council cabinet meeting.

Gordon Roscoe, NDC chief executive, said: “The biggest achievement for us has been about community engagement.

“It has been about empowering residents through the neighbourhood teams and the plan is to keep them involved.”

One of the NDC’s most successful schemes has been the groundbreaking Summer University 2009.

The first project of its kind outside London, its aim was to give young people something positive to get their teeth into during their long summer break.

It was awarded £20,000 to help run a series of exciting activities for young people during four weeks in July and August.

The Summer University was one of NDC’s biggest projects and took place at a number of venues in Hathershaw and Fitton Hill and the wider Medlock Vale ward.

Residents took advantage of a series of courses from arts and crafts sessions, a Ready Steady Cook style competition, and sports. Looking ahead to 2010, future NDC plans are now coming to fruition.

Young people in the heart of Hathershaw and Fitton Hill, as well as the wider community, will soon be able to benefit from a million-pound sports complex.

NDC submitted a plan to develop a £3million sport zone on land in Rosary Road.

The proposals include six to 10 all-weather Muga pitches (multi use games areas) which can be used for mini football tournaments, basketball, rugby etc.

The NDC programme is set to invest £1.8m to make the £3m scheme a reality, with a further 25 per cent coming from the Football Association and other sources.

Work on the site is due to start in January and the complex is scheduled to be completed by the end of June.

Good health of local communities is also a priority for NDC.

Residents will soon be able get a health check under one roof thanks to the NDC investing £2 million in a new Fitton Hill Neighbourhood Centre.

The centre, planned for land off New Barn Road and Fircroft Road, will be the first of its kind in Oldham and will cost £6.5million in total.

Part of the centre will house doctors, dentists and other health services, the rest will include a library and youth and community centre, as well as affordable accommodation for voluntary groups.

It will replace the current Fitton Hill Library and youth and community centre.

The new venture will be partly financed with £2 million from the Hathershaw and Fitton Hill New Deal for Communities fund.

The rest will come from Oldham Council, which is supplying the land, and Community First Oldham (C1OL).

The aim is to have a flagship building at the heart of Fitton Hill, securing new primary care services in an area where health is below average, and to get as much shared space as possible to ensure maximum use and to cut costs.

Thanks to the work of the NDC, residents have been left feeling positive about their districts and happy about improvements.

A recent Morisurvey, held every two years to allow residents to give their views, revealed the NDC’s best results yet.

It found 73 per cent of residents thought the area had improved under the programme, a rise of 13 per cent.

Residents had noticed continued improvements in the area, and issues such as litter problems and anti-social behaviour had improved compared with previous years.

And one of the most significant results was that residents felt NDC had improved Hathershaw and Fitton Hill as a place to live.