New fear over school ‘rat run’

Chairman Ken Bennett opens the packed meeting.

A HEATED debate between Oldham Council chiefs and irate villagers over the relocation of Saddleworth School has sparked more controversy.

Dobcross Band and Social Club was packed with more than 100 concerned local people over the proposed building of the £19million school at the former WH Shaw palletworks site in Diggle.

Worried villagers say increased traffic on narrow roads in nearby Dobcross has already raised major safety concerns. They believe when the Uppermill school is relocated, Dobcross will become a “rat-run” for vehicles.

In March Oldham Council Cabinet members formally approved the site as the new location for the school, which could be open by spring 2017.

Last night’s meeting wasn’t for formal objections, but council representative reiterated their commitment to listen to residents.

The debate - organised by the Dobcross Village Community (DVC) executive committee and chaired by Chronicle reporter Ken Bennett, himself a member - was used to start a dialogue between the council and residents. Senior council staff included Oldham Council’s assistant executive director of special projects, Michele Carr and Paul Groves, principal engineer with builders Unity Partnership, who joined councillor Dave Hibbert - cabinet member for housing, planning and highways, local MP Debbie Abrahams, Saddleworth councillors Derek Heffernan and Garth Harkness and parish councillors.

Ms Carr emphasised there are currently no firm proposals for Dobcross traffic calming measures - but that planning approval for the school would include conditions for surrounding highways that would be developed throughout the next year

Pamela Rose, the chair of the DVC, said her priority was safety: “We want to keep our village safe. We don’t too much traffic coming through.”

Parish councillor Mike Buckley - who is against the relocation to Diggle - expressed concerns about “urbanisation” of the village and the harm it might do.

Councillor Hibbert was later heckled for suggesting people would eventually come to the conclusion the problems weren’t as bad as they had feared

“Everyone expects the worst possible outcome but it doesn’t always work like that,” he said. “We’re just as proud of where you live as you are. It’s a massive attraction for the borough — we don’t want to see it spoiled.”

Mrs Abrahams said: “We’re making sure you’re listened to. We see this as the start of the process. We need to come back as regularly and as often as we need to be able to reassure you.

“We’re not going to please everybody all of the time. We’ll make sure this meets most people’s needs. As much as we love our 17th century villages, we want a 21st century lifestyle.”