Old health centre deemed ‘unfit for purpose’ could be turned into housing

The former Crompton Health Centre site in Shaw

An old health centre in Oldham that was deemed ‘unfit for purpose’ has been put up for sale.

The former home of Crompton Health Centre in Shaw was put on sale for £240k on the property website Zoopla. 

The building was left empty after Oak Gables Partnership and Village Medical Practice, who used to operate out of the site, moved to the brand new practice at Shaw and Crompton Health Centre. 

Now, the 8,373 sq ft building, which comes with a car park, could potentially be turned into an office, school or housing development, the online estate agents suggest.

They claimed that enquiries have been made to Oldham Council about the potential redevelopment of the site into housing, either providing seven homes or ten flats and four houses. 

Oldham Council are yet to respond to the proposal, but their approval would only be ‘in theory’ as an official planning application would still need to be submitted. 

Photos show the boarded up building emptied of furniture, with some rooms still containing the remnants of medical equipment, sinks and whiteboards. 

The new health centre, built on the site of the former Shaw Baths, was constructed after a long campaign by local councillors to move the practices to a ‘more modern’ facility.

Shaw councillor and Lib Dem group leader Howard Sykes claimed the old practice was ‘falling apart at the seams’ and the town was ‘in desperate need of a replacement modern facility’.

Speaking of the new health centre, Councillor Barbara Brownridge, Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care, said: “It’s been fantastic to finally see this state of the art facility up and running.

"The community are really benefiting from having access to this much needed health centre that was years in the making.

“It’s so important that our residents have access to top quality health care near to where they live.

"It has already generated great feedback from people using it and I’m sure it will continue to have a big impact in the years to come.”

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