‘Controversial’ housing plan accused of ‘playing Monopoly with people’s lives’

A hotly-contested housing plan has been accused of ‘playing Monopoly with people’s lives’ in Oldham.

Councillors took aim at ‘Places for Everyone’ (PfE), a scheme to build more homes across nine Greater Manchester districts, at a council meeting last night (Wednesday). 

The local authority voted to accept the plans in March under the council’s Labour cabinet.

The development plan has been a decade in the making and would see the borough gain 11,500 new homes by 2037.

But some councillors and residents are concerned about the inclusion of greenbelt land as part of the construction.

Lib Dem councillor Howard Sykes has called on the council to call on the Secretary of State to reject Oldham’s involvement in the plans and requested an assessment to be carried out on the consequences of withdrawing at this stage. 

Sykes said: “We’ve signed over our green belt in exchange for unaffordable housing.

"This is not the answer for families and our young people struggling to get onto the housing ladder.

"Once those precious green spaces are gone, they’re gone forever.” 

Conservative councillor Max Woodvine added: “This has presented itself as one of the single biggest causes of concern for most residents who do not want their communities changed beyond recognition. 

“With this plan the Labour party are playing Monopoly with people’s lives.” 

Oldham, along with the rest of the country, is locked in a housing crisis.

Rents are rising more rapidly in the district than anywhere else in Greater Manchester, with house prices beyond the reach of most residents and more than 6,000 people on a waiting list for social housing that doesn’t currently exist. 

Opposition councillors believe PfE is the ‘wrong way’ to tackle the crisis and that more use could be made of brownfield sites and the approximately 1,200 long-term empty properties in Oldham. 

The plan would include building on land in Beal Valley, Bottom Field Farm, Broadbent Moss, south of Coal Pit Lane, and south of Rosary Road, which are fully or partially under greenbelt designations.

But Labour councillors argued they had ‘identified every brownfield site’ they could and ‘saved several greenbelt sites from development’. 

Councillor Elaine Taylor said: “I know in my heart we did everything we possibly could to get the best deal for Oldham.

"But I’m not blinkered enough to believe that everyone will agree with that view.”  

The council unanimously agreed to a review of how a withdrawal from the PfE plan would impact the borough, which will include a councillors workshop and an officer report to be presented in the November council meeting.

If the council agrees to withdraw from the plan in November, the only way to do this is by writing to the Secretary of State to reject their previous vote to approve the plan.

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