Build on green belt
two years ago, which saw more than 3,000 people march against the draft plan at Tandle Hill.
He claimed the revision, which has more homes planned, sees the borough ‘worse off.’
“We obviously weren’t taken seriously enough by Oldham council the first time, so we are much more determined to make our local politicians and our council take note,” he said.
“There are thousands of acres of derelict mills and wasteland laid empty across the borough that could be used for housing projects or commercial uses.”
Mr Mahon said they are already planning joint actions with neighbouring green belt groups in Shaw and Chadderton.
Leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition in Oldham, Coun Howard Sykes raised concerns that the road network and local infrastructure would be unable to cope with the number of new homes allocated in the borough.
“The Liberal Democrats recognise that we shall need more homes, including affordable housing for first-time buyers and renters and homes for people living independently with disabilities,” he said.
“But our green belt is irreplaceable so we will continue to oppose any plans to build there when there are unused brownfield sites that can be built on and empty mills which can be converted into residential accommodation.”
He added: “In Shaw and Crompton, we already have primary schools which are bursting at the seams and an overburdened and run down health centre; without more investment in our transport infrastructure and better, new public facilities we simply cannot cope with any more people.
His party’s pleas to make sure no green belt was built on have been ‘ignored,’ Coun Sykes said, and therefore they would ‘redouble’ their efforts to oppose the plans.
But council leader Sean Fielding said: “If we want to meet the housing demands and people’s expectations for Oldham, and if we want to be a successful borough that’s part of the wider Greater Manchester economy, not the one that’s been left behind as we have been then we do have to take difficult decisions.
“And I’m quite prepared to front those up because I believe in what it is that we’re trying to do to make Oldham a more successful and prosperous place.”