148 new homes get the green light

Oldham Cabinet

CONSTRUCTION work will begin next month on building 148 affordable family homes in Derker.

Cabinet last night approved Bellway Homes as the preferred bidders for the scheme on the Acre Lane / London Road site.

Members also approved a strategy to use a mix of borrowing — plus council resources previously set aside — to fund the project during the private part of the cabinet meeting.

Work is due to start at the end of March on the land which is almost cleared and ready for development.

The council’s new housing agreement was approved as the Housing Market Renewal (HMR) programme draws to a close.

HMR was set up in 2004 to tackle long-standing problems which had made some neighbourhoods less popular places to live. But last summer the Government announced the withdrawal of all new HMR funding.

Councillor John McCann, cabinet member for regeneration and environment, said: “Improving and providing top quality housing for our citizens is a top priority.

“With HMR about to end we have had to carefully examine what we can feasibly do to assist people on to the housing ladder and ensure that we are providing new developments that are sustainable, well-designed, and have the right home sizes and mix of tenure to attract people back into these areas.

“By continuing the work we started with HMR, this new strategy has the potential to deliver 513 new homes.

“The Derker development is in addition to a scheme for 111 new family homes at Spencer Street, Werneth, plus plans to create 97 homes at the Borough Mill site in Fitton Hill/Hathershaw, 93 at St Mary’s, and 64 in North Werneth.”

As part of the agreement, Oldham Council has confirmed it will meet all its existing legal commitments.

To date the local authority has acquired 785 properties as part of HMR activity in Derker and Werneth, with a further 32 being acquired in the present financial year.

A total of 530 properties were also demolished during the same period to create development sites.

The council now has a legal duty to acquire only a further 11 properties.