Stadium fears will be heard

FAILSWORTH residents will be consulted over Oldham Athletic’s £20 million stadium plans, pledged council chiefs.

As revealed in yesterday’s Chronicle, Failsworth Residents’ Action Group is angry about the proposals for a 12,000-seat ground with community sports facilities on a 30-acre site off Broadway. It says locals have been ignored.

Campaigners feel the development will have a tremendous impact on people’s lives and are collecting signatures on a petition.

A petition objecting to the proposals with 62 signatures has already been handed in to the council along with another bearing 56 signatures requesting an urgent meeting with council leaders.

Resident Warren Bates asked a question on why residents’ requests for explanations and meetings between council leaders and the League One club have been ignored.

Lib-Dem councillor Mohib Uddin (pictured) said he was disappointed he had not been invited to Failsworth PACT meetings to discuss it and that no Failsworth Labour councillors had raised the issue with him personally.

He said Oldham Athletic FC was the developer and the council was simply trying to facilitate and assist in a “company relocation.”

He had stressed to Latics chiefs the importance of consultation and he believes the Boundary Park outfit will be announcing a number of events to get public feedback to be held in numerous venues, including Failsworth.

But Labour accused him of misleading the public by pointing out the minutes of a council meeting on September 16 when he was asked if the council accepted it had an active involvement in the plans and would take responsibility for the lack of public consultation.

He replied at the time that the council always intended to be actively involved and could control the proposals as it owned the land.