The big bang!

WORLD class . . . Oldham Sixth Form College principal Nick Brown, his successor Jayne Clarke (left) and chairman of governors Gloria Oates outside the new science centre building

Town seals deal on science centre

A LANDMARK deal has been struck to create world-class science education facilities in Oldham.

The striking Kings Point development has been unveiled as the home of the borough’s £5.5million regional science centre — the first centre of its kind in the country

Proposals to build the Oldham Sixth Form College development on the former Pennine Way Hotel site were hit by last year’s national further education funding fiasco.

But Oldham was determined to make its dream a reality and struck a pioneering deal to buy Kings Point opposite the college.

The five-storey centre will boast 21 labs and experiment and exhibition spaces to inspire the next generation of scientists.

Opening later this year, it will be the used by thousands of young people — from primary school pupils to undergraduates — and will allow University Campus Oldham to offer science degrees. .

Delighted sixth form college principal Nick Brown said: “The effect of having the science centre in Oldham will be absolutely colossal. It will be the best in the country.

“Already we have prestigious, national science organisations wanting to be part of it; we have cutting-edge scientists queuing up to come and give lectures in Oldham.

“I do not think I could hype this.

“It is going to put the borough on the map in a significant way, it’s just astounding.

“If this country is going to be competitive, it has to come through science and technology and there is going to be a big demand for scientists in Greater Manchester. The difficulty is finding the scientists to fill the demand.

“Oldham will be able to find these scientists because the demand for science here is greater than elsewhere.”

Scores of colleges were hit when the Government’s Learning and Skills Council (LSC) ran out of money and froze its building programme.

Oldham Partnership, an umbrella organisation for public bodies, decided to pool its grants to buy the centre: Oldham Council has borrowed the money until these come through.

The 35,000 sq ft Kings Point in Union Street has been unoccupied since it opened on the former TSB bank site last June.

Mr Brown, who retires as principal in July, is also chairman of the partnership.

He described the decision as “brave” and added: “We weren’t prepared to give up. We always thought if something is really important, you fight for it.

“The whole thing had to be done quickly because there was a very narrow window of opportunity while the grant funding was there and the building was available.

“The project is being delivered quicker and much cheaper than it would have been under the LSC — that’s what I find startling.

“When we look back in the future we will see a different way, a smarter, cheaper way, of doing things. What we have done here is a model nationally.

“As far as the partnership is concerned, this is just the start. People who say it is all plans will realise now that we do not say we are going to do something without doing it.”