Get on with it, builder warned

Royton Assembly Hall still in poor state.

Oldham Council is getting tough with the owners of Royton Assembly Hall and taking legal steps to get work speeded up.

It is taking enforcement action against Whispers Developments after the company failed to carry out agreed work set out last month.

The loss-making hall was sold for £215,000 in 2003 when Whispers said it planned to spend up to £500,000 on refurbishing it into a banqueting hall and centre.

However, the building has been vandalised and work has been slow.

Now the council says it will ensure that agreements are followed to the letter or action will be taken.

Council leader Howard Sykes said: “A clear schedule of work that was needed to be done by Whispers Development on the Royton Assembly Hall site was set out by the council at the start of September as the saga over the completion of this venue had gone on for far too long.

“However officers have reported that absolutely none of this work has been completed to anywhere near the agreed and required standard and so — as clearly stated from the outset — the council will now be initiating a range of enforcement action to ensure that this work is carried out as quickly as possible.

“Whispers Developments has had plenty of time to deal with these actions but has not. This is totally unacceptable and the council will now do what it stated to enforce these actions.

“This is not the end of the matter and the council will continue to monitor work on the site, or lack of it, closely and enforce all required actions as necessary.”

The Chronicle called Whispers but the phone went unanswered.