Oldham: Plans for 2,000 new homes and Jubilee Park

Muse, part of the Morgan Sindall group, has been selected as the council’s development partner for the multi-million pound scheme, which will see around 2,000 new homes built around the town centre, as well as new green spaces.

The announcement was outside near Tommyfield Market on Friday, July 7.

CGI of plans for Jubilee Park and housing nearby (Image: Oldham Council/Muse)

Council leader Arooj Shah said the process for selecting Muse was ‘long and rigorous’, adding “you know it’s long because it started in my last tenure as leader.”

Muse, which will partner with the council for up to 25 years, is also set to announce a plan to bring T-Level students at Oldham College into the business.

The first batch of homes will be built on council-owned sites, including the civic centre and Queen Elizabeth Hall. The current site of Tommyfield Market is set to be transformed into ‘Jubilee Park’, named in honour of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Possible future building will happen on ‘brownfield’ sites – which have been previously been development.

The council leader said the homes will be ‘for Oldhamers’, but that they would be ‘open to anybody else who wants to live here’.

Oldham Council were keen to point out that Phil Mayall, Muse’s north west managing director, is a ‘born and bred’ Oldhamer – an alumni of the former Breeze Hill School, which has since been merged with Counthill School to form the Waterhead Academy.

Mr Mayall said Muse wants to ‘hit the ground running’, with community engagement set to start imminently.

He added: “It’s really important to me, because I’m from here – this is my town, and I’m incredibly proud of it.

"I was always keen to be involved in a project in my own town, having personally worked in Salford, Chester, St Helen’s, Blackpool.”

He said that the regeneration would be ‘challenging’.

L-R: Phil Mayall, Cllr Arooj Shah, council CEO Harry Catherall (Image: Jack Fifield, Newsquest)

He explained: “It will be a project that we think will be fantastic for the town centre but will be challenging, like all other regeneration is in all places in the country.

“What I do know from being from the town is, and I’ve got it, the natural Oldham cynicism of whether this will ever happen – and we need to show people that we’re committed and will be here for the long-term.”

Sign up to our newsletters to get the latest stories sent straight to your inbox.

Muse has worked on other projects in Greater Manchester, including Stockport Exchange, Salford Central and Lewisham Gateway.

The council called the partnership the "largest and most significant piece in the jigsaw of the ongoing transformation of Oldham town centre".

The homes are likely to feature air-source heat pumps, among other environmental features.

Mr Mayall added that the developments would be built with sustainability in mind, given the climate emergency.

CGI of plans for Oldham town centre (Image: Oldham Council)

He said: “We’re currently developing two schemes in Salford, an office scheme, called Eden and a housing scheme, called Greenhaus.

“The office scheme has the second largest green wall in the world and the largest in Europe, and has just been awarded the highest NABERS rating, which deals with operational energy use in a building – the second highest new build in the country, the other one being in London.

“Greenhaus is a passive house scheme, very low energy, and it’s an affordable scheme on Chapel Street in Salford. That’s really, really important to us – not only is it sustainable, it’s practically delivering low energy bills to people who need it most.

“It’s absolutely at the front and centre of what we do, we are very, very engaged with the combined authority and Homes England about how we deliver more and more of that, and that’s absolutely what we want to bring to Oldham town centre.

“There’s no point creating the green part and working on Northern Roots and everything else the town’s focussed on and then delivering something which contributes nothing in terms of the built fabric.”

Follow The Oldham Times on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, and Threads.

But how long until it’s finished?

Mr Mayall said his company is looking for ‘meanwhile uses’ for sites as they become vacant, adding that it would take ‘a couple of years’ to get on site, with usually about an ‘18 month build period’.

Cllr Shah was more coy about when work would be completed – saying she wouldn’t want to be held to a date.

She said: “We know in Oldham, and being an Oldhamer myself, that people are really cynical when the council announce any type of project.

“For me, it was really important to make sure that we have the right people on board, and I’m convinced that Muse will do that.”

Cllr Shah said there would be a mix and range of houses, apartments, and social housing in the scheme to ensure that ‘everybody in Oldham feels like there’s something there for them’.

She added: “2,000 homes might sound like a lot, but it’s not when you look at the housing need in Oldham. It’s much higher than that. This is just something we’re going to start. For me I would say to residents it’s going to be something they can live and enjoy.

“They might want to work anywhere across Greater Manchester, but they will want to be here. It will be complemented by loads of green space. Normally when you’re working with developers who are really focussed on building houses, the green bit is an add-on, with here we’ve started with that.

“We’re not trying to just create a housing development site, we’re trying to create a home, a neighbourhood, and a community – and that’s the most important thing.”

Cllr Shah said: “The program will start – I will never, ever, give a key starting date because I think that’s something that people hold you on to. The most important thing for an emerging masterplan is that you don’t set in stone exactly what’s going to happen, when it’s going to happen.

“This is going to be a consultation with people of a different kind, we’re going to take on people’s views of what they want. For us, the work starts today.”

“I know there are going to be people out there that are going to be cynical and think this is just another announcement, this is something else. The past in Oldham is really important, but we’re asking people to look to the future now.

“This is a new chapter, and while the past is glorious and it’s real, so is the future and the opportunities that brings, and we need to celebrate that in equal measure, and that’s what we’re doing today.”

The plans will see 2,000 homes built in the town centre (Image: Oldham Council)

Asked about the potential impact of increased road traffic, Cllr Shah said: “Something has to always give, there will always be some form of inconvenience for some people, but you’ve got to look at the future, this is a new chapter.

“There might be little hiccups across the way, but ultimately, we’re working towards something that is going to be so important for so many people, so I’m hoping people will have some empathy or understanding, and I apologise for any inconvenience they might find, but this is about doing something for the greater good.”