About Oldham news

Oldham Council has been judged the most improved authority in the country at the Local Government Chronicle Awards 2025, capping a run of national recognition that also saw it receive the Gold Award in the Armed Forces Employer Recognition Scheme. The honour comes after 14 years of central government cuts that had pushed the town's finances to the brink.

The civic turnaround is being matched by bricks-and-mortar change. A new five-acre Tommyfield Park is now under construction in the town centre, while Snipe Gardens has already opened as a fresh green gateway into the shopping district. Both projects sit inside the wider £70 million SportsTown campus, which received a £5 million starter grant in March to bring sports, education and health facilities onto one site.

Culture is also getting a second breath. The Oldham Coliseum building, dark since the theatre company left, will reopen in 2026, and the Oldham Theatre Workshop has moved into refurbished quarters visited in November by three of its famous former students. Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth Hall will host the borough's young musicians for a Christmas showcase after a year of pandemic-quiet stages.

Not every measure is celebratory. A Closure Order secured on a Waterhead property just before Christmas was described by councillors as 'the best Christmas present' after months of drug-related complaints, a reminder that neighbourhood safety still sits high on the town's to-do list even as the accolades pile up.