The new £600k entrance to Oldham that will aim to make the town centre 'more welcoming'

A Snipe Garden CGI mock-up - image taken from planning documents

More funding has been secured for a ‘fantastic new entrance’ to Oldham aimed at enticing residents and visitors into the town centre.

A £600k grant will pay for finishing touches on Snipe Garden, a ‘vibrant’ community space connecting Oldham’s central bus stop with Henshaw Street. 

The money from water company United Utilities’ ‘green recovery fund’ will finance drainage works and planting on the site of the now demolished Snipe Inn pub. 

The new entrance way is supposed to make the town centre more ‘welcoming and accessible’ in a bid to increase footfall in the town’s high streets.

The town was previously identified as one of the areas most at risk of ‘dying out’ as a result of changing consumer habits and the cost of living crisis.

Council leader Arooj Shah accepted the funds at a cabinet meeting on Monday evening (March 3).

The new public space includes benches and hardy plants as well as a wide path to gain access to the town.

It’s a big change from the ‘dingy alleyway’ at the side of the 130-year-old pub that once served as the main entrance from the bus interchange. 

The new park is part of a wider effort to ‘beautify’ and invest in Oldham to attract shoppers.

Other schemes include refurbishing old buildings such as the Old Library and Old Townhall, and building a brand new venue for the Tommyfield Market traders, who are due to move into a new wing of the Spindles Shopping Centre later this year.

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