Morale-booster — or a waste of money?

OLDHAM Council invested £200,000 to make the borough’s streets blooming marvellous.

And it paid off after the town won the North-West in Bloom 2009 “Best Town Centre” award and came second in “Best City” category.

The Liberal Democrats came under fire from various sources for sanctioning the cash for spending during 2009-10, at a time when massive cutbacks are being made in a bid to help the council balance its books.

The money not only funded planting flowers and trees, but paid for some work necessary to enable planting at such an extent to go ahead.

Marina Berry spoke to voters in the town centre to find out if they believed the money was well spent — and found opinion was split down the middle.

Marcus Buckley, who works at outdoor gear specialists Mountain Feet, said: “It probably wasn’t worth it, and it’s probably not appreciated by a lot of people in Oldham.

“The money could have been better spent in other areas, such as creating more employment in the borough.”

Shopper Michael Roberts disagreed, however, saying: “It’s excellent, and was more than worth the money.

“Anything that improves Oldham is worth it. I’ve always said Alexandra Park is great, and this has brought it out into the rest of the town.”

Jean Schofield, of Royton, said: “It’s hard to say whether it was worth the money or not.

“Oldham in Bloom has gone on a long time, so we have had a lot of pleasure from it, but £200,000 is a lot of money.”

She added: “I do love to see flowers, they cheer everyone up, and Oldham has been very attractive this year.”

Young mum Samantha Holland, who lives in Shaw Road, Oldham, said North- West in Bloom efforts had brightened the borough and the awards were good for its reputation.

She said: “OIdham gets a lot of bad publicity, and this is good news.”

But she said she was unsure that the cost was worth it.

She said some of the money may have been better spent on facilities to give children, like her five-year-old son, Joshua, something to do.

“It’s not worth the money,” said Mrs Ela Mellor. “People don’t appreciate it, and it’s a lot of money which could have been spent on something better.”

She added: “I like flowers, they look lovely, but £200,000 is such a lot of money to spend at a time when people are struggling and in such a state as they are. It’s terrible.”

Royton man Mike Greenwood said it was good to have flowers across the borough, but was reserved about the amount of money involved.

He said: “The place needed a bit of a boost, and seeing so many flowers raised my morale.”