£13m funding secured for Northern Roots
A £13m project funded by the government's Town Deal and Levelling Up Fund will bring a new cafe, visitor centre, and forestry hub to Oldham's Northern Roots site, alongside existing community features like gardens and wildflower meadows. Construction by Wilmott Dixon is set to complete by summer 2026, creating jobs and supporting local employment.
Oldham’s £13 million visitor centre breaks ground at Northern Roots
Construction begins this month on a £12.9 million visitor centre that will anchor Oldham’s ambitious Northern Roots project, transforming 160 acres of green space beside Alexandra Park into a working urban farm and eco-park. The two-storey facility, funded through the government’s Town Deal and Levelling Up Fund, will house a café with full production kitchen, exhibition galleries, performance space, and classrooms dedicated to agricultural and forestry training programmes.
The development marks the next phase of Northern Roots, which launched in 2023 and has already delivered community gardens, woodworking sheds, wildflower meadows and composting projects that host regular volunteering sessions. Oldham-based contractor Willmott Dixon, appointed to deliver the scheme, will create four new construction jobs while guiding 10 previously unemployed local residents through their Building Lives Academy pre-employability programme.
Anna da Silva, Northern Roots CEO, hailed the start of building work as “a really exciting moment and a key step in unlocking the potential of the Northern Roots site.” The centre, accompanied by a new car park and outdoor amphitheatre, is scheduled to welcome visitors by summer 2026 while the surrounding parkland remains open throughout construction.
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