Don’t drain our natural beauty

Brushes Clough Reservoir — up for auction.

THE sale of two Oldham reservoirs has prompted anger and concern among residents who fear they will lose two popular beauty spots.

United Utilities are selling Brushes Clough Reservoir, on Crompton Moor, and the filled in Besom Hill Reservoir, off Grains Road — as well as three other plots of land — at auction on July 18 with reserves set at just £5,000.

Both are well known walking destinations for Oldham Countryside Service and renowned haunts for wildlife lovers, dog walkers and horse riders.

But United Utilities’ bid to off-load the two locations has caused alarm and upset among the local community with fears the reservoir could be drained and houses built — even though the land has green-belt status.

Lisa Smirk, who lives in near-by Hampden Road and grew up riding her horse on the moors, says United Utilities should “gift” the plots to the people of Shaw and Oldham and it would be a “crying shame” to lose them.

“Selling these reservoirs means changing the whole moor. It’s absolutely ludicrous,” said Lisa (44).

“It’s such a popular area for people walking around, taking their children up to skim stones after school, walking the dogs, taking photos of the wildlife.

Richard Blackwell, United Utilities supplies manager, said: “These reservoirs have not been used to supply water for over 30 years and they are no longer connected to the supply system.

“These days Oldham gets its water from much larger and more reliable sources of water including Haweswater in the Lake District. The cost of maintaining these two small reservoirs is considerable and the sale is one of the ways we can keep costs down for our customers. We’re happy to encourage public access and recreation at our working reservoir sites, like Dovestone, but if land is no longer needed we can’t justify maintaining it indefinitely. We believe the auction could be of interest to an angling club or other landowner.”
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