‘Bus shelter’ tram stop not good enough

PLANS for the Mumps Metrolink stop are “inadequate”, according to the leader of Oldham Council.

Councillor Jim McMahon has slammed officers by telling them the proposals for the station where the tram will roll through in spring 2012 are “not good enough”.

Concerns were raised in the Cabinet Question Time event over the ongoing roadworks for the Metrolink in the town centre and in Shaw.

Councillor McMahon said visitors will be on a “one-way ticket” out of Oldham if action is not taken soon.

He said: “The Metrolink stop at Mumps is inadequate, it’s not good enough. It is effectively bus shelters.

“So we are effectively saying that as a new gateway to Oldham, for people coming into our town, the best you can expect is a row of bus shelters and that’s it.

“We expect people to invest and we are not willing to invest ourselves.

“When you go to Newton Heath you see Central Park, an all- singing, all-dancing state-of-the-art interchange.

“That’s what we should be getting for Oldham.

“We told officers what’s on the table is not good enough and they need to go away and do that.”

Metrolink at Mumps will temporarily run along the Oldham Loop rail line at street level through a new junction layout at Mumps roundabout by next year.

By 2014, the tram track between Werneth and Oldham Mumps will be removed, including the track across the new Mumps junction, to be replaced by the tram line running through the town centre and along Union Street .

It was Union Street which was next on the leader of the council’s agenda.

He said: “We need to do something with Union Street. There’s no point in having a fancy interchange if all people are going to see is takeaways with the shutters pulled down during the day.”

Councillor McMahon, who has been head of the council’s administration since May, of this year revealed plans will be coming forward before Christmas on improvements to the look of the Mumps area.

He said: “This is not a masterplan, because Oldham has had a hundred of those, all of which go straight into the recycle bin because they are not worth the paper or the consultancy fees that have been paid out.

“We will make money available to do that in the private sector, European money and grant funding to make sure we do it.

“Don’t judge us before Christmas on an artist’s impression, judge us in a year, 10 years, to see if we have made a difference or not.”