Council’s crunch promise

OLDHAM TOWN CENTRE PARTNERSHIP MEETING

OLDHAM council has pledged its support to town centre business as they battle for survival during the credit crunch.

The promise came from deputy council leader, Councillor Jackie Stanton, who said: “We are going to have a rough ride over the next two years, and we want to ensure our town centre small businesses are still there at the end.

“It’s not going to be easy, but we are committed to supporting them.”

Her pledge came at yesterday’s meeting after Mark Taylor, the council’s interim assistant director of finance, warned of the difficult time ahead for both local businesses and the council.

He spoke of the need for the council to tighten its belt still further.

But, he said, despite £10 million of cutbacks to balance the books — £1.5 million of which is yet to be identified — the council was preparing a budget for recovery.

The council’s budget proposals will be discussed at Wednesday’s full council meeting.