Oldham’s Skyline to Transform: Six Mega-Schemes Approved in One Night of Planning Drama
Civic Tower, Brutalist Icon and “Eyesore,” to Become 126-Bed Hotel; 745 More Flats in Pipeline

Oldham’s skyline is set for its biggest makeover in a generation after councillors backed six multi-million-pound regeneration schemes in a marathon planning session that ran past midnight.

In a packed Civic Centre chamber, members of Oldham Council’s planning committee voted unanimously to approve:

1. Civic Tower Hotel - conversion of the 15-storey, 1970s “brutalist beacon” into a 126-bedroom hotel with ground-floor café and publicly accessible viewing gallery.
2. Former Magistrates’ Court - 219 flats in two blocks (eight & 11 storeys) plus 1,550 m² of offices/education space.
3. Manchester Chambers - retail arcade demolished, Victorian façade retained, 94 flats created and 1,550 m² of co-working space.
4. Queen Elizabeth Hall - demolition of the 1970s theatre and assembly hall; 93 flats and a new public square.
5. Former Leisure Centre - outline consent for 231 flats across two slender 9 & 12-storey blocks framing a new linear park.
6. Prince’s Gate car-park - three towers (6, 12 & 16 storeys) delivering 331 flats, 70 m² of shops and a “car-free” transport hub beside the Metrolink stop.

What happens next?

• Demolition crews will move onto the first three sites within weeks.
• Muse, the council’s development partner, must submit “reserved matters” applications detailing exact designs, materials and landscaping before bricks are laid.
• Section 106 agreements - cash for extra school places, GP capacity and public art - are still being negotiated.
• Affordable housing: 20 % of all flats will be offered at discounted rent, slightly below the borough’s 23 % target.

Reaction
Cllr Amanda Chadderton, Oldham Council leader, hailed the decisions as “a vote of confidence in the town centre and our partnership with Muse. These schemes will deliver around 2,000 new homes and hundreds of construction jobs, while breathing life back into sites that have been empty or under-used for years.”

George Lythgoe, Muse Development Director, added: “Tonight’s approvals are the culmination of three years of consultation and design work. We can now start on site, begin to transform how people live, work and socialise in Oldham, and create a genuine mixed-use neighbourhood where everything is within a 15-minute walk or cycle.”

Campaigners
The Twentieth Century Society had lobbied to save the Queen Elizabeth Hall, calling it “a rare surviving example of a 1970s civic theatre and one of the best pieces of brutalist architecture in Greater Manchester.” Their plea was over-ruled after officers argued the RAAC concrete panels made the building “structurally unsafe and incapable of economic repair.”

Green-space victory
Every scheme now includes new pocket parks, roof terraces or full public squares. The linear park - a 1.2 ha green spine - will link the former leisure-centre site to the new Prince’s Gate towers and the Metrolink stop.

Timeline

• Late-2025 - detailed designs submitted, ground works start.
• 2026 - first homes completed, hotel opens.
• 2027-28 - all schemes finished; 2,000 residents expected, £35 m council receipts earmarked for further town-centre public-realm improvements.

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