This is Oldham

Eye-opening statistics provide a glimpse into the borough’s future

MORE than half of all children in Coldhurst live in poverty and burglary rates are at their highest in Alexandra.

Such statistics form part of the “Joint Strategic Needs Assessment” for Oldham — and will help to shape future local health services.

The population of Oldham is set to increase by 10,000 to 229,700 by 2022 — a 4.5 per cent rise.

The ethnic make up of the borough continues to change: residents from white backgrounds will decrease in proportion from 80.6 per cent of the population this year to 75.4 per cent by 2022 — the increase coming from people of Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage.

A rise in Oldham’s older population will put extra demand on health services - and there will be extra strain on maternity and early-years services.

By 2022, 17.6 per cent of Oldhamers will be over 65 and 2.5 per cent over 85. The cost of supporting them in their own homes is likely to double.

The local unemployment rate is higher than the national average; one in three Alexandra residents of working age are without a job.

Educational achievement also varies: two-thirds of youngsters in Saddleworth North are of satisfactory standard at primary school, compared to only a third in St Mary’s.

Life expectancy in Oldham is currently 75.7 for men and 80.5 for women, with the spread across the best and worst wards 11 years for men and 10 years for women.

The majority of Oldhamers say they are satisfied with their local area - but this varies across wards.

Levels of dissatisfaction are highest among 16 to 44-year-olds, the disabled and the unemployed.

Six in 10 Oldhamers travel to work by car while only just over one in a hundred go by bike. The poorest air quality is where the M60 meets the A62 in Hollinwood.

Read the full report at www.oldhaminfo.org.