The six key projects for Oldham town centre decided on
Oldham Council has approved six major regeneration projects as part of the 'Oldham Town Regeneration project,' a 15-year partnership with urban developers Muse. The projects include transforming the Civic Tower into a hotel, demolishing the Queen Elizabeth Hall and former Civic Centre for residential blocks, redeveloping the former Magistrates' Court and leisure centre into apartments, revamping Manchester Chambers, and constructing new flats at Prince’s Gate. The plan aims to bring 2,000 new homes and revitalize the town centre by integrating retail and residential spaces. Concerns were raised about the potential impact on local services and the repetition of past urban planning mistakes.
Oldham’s Skyline Set for Dramatic Transformation: Six Major Projects Approved to Reshape Town Centre
July 3, 2025 |
Oldham Council has green-lit six landmark developments that will fundamentally alter the face of the borough’s urban core over the next fifteen years,,, according to the joint-venture partnership between the authority and regeneration specialist Muse Developments.
The schemes - ranging from 93-apartment hotel schemes to 16-storey residential towers - were rubber-stamped at a special planning-committee meeting on Wednesday,,, 2 July 2025..
KEY PROJECTS:
- Civic Centre Tower - 15-storey brutalist icon → hotel (126 bed-rooms)
- Queen Elizabeth Hall - theatre + car-park → demolish & replace with 6-storey U-shaped residential block (93 flats)
- Manchester Chambers - mock-Tudor + 90s arcade → refurbish into 1,550 m² commercial / educational floorspace
- Former Magistrates’ Courts - King Street → 219 homes (mix: 94×1-bed; 108×2-bed; 17×3-bed)
- Prince’s Gate / Mumps - car-park → 331 flats across 3 towers (16, 12, 6 storeys)
TOTAL: ≈ 1,000 new homes + hotel + commercial..
COUNCILLOR CONCERNS:
Cllr. Brian Hobin (Labour, St. Mary’s ward) warned: “We seem to be repeating the 60s/70s tower-block route. In 30 years will these look just as bad?”
MUSE RESPONSE:
Alex Vogel, Muse senior development manager, replied the schemes are “complementary, not competing” and will “feed footfall through the town centre”, insisting each application “thinks ahead” about community cohesion, highways impact, and infrastructure pressure on GPs/schools.
NEXT STEPS:
- All sites gain outline permission → detailed designs & developer selection to follow
- Section 106 agreements being finalised for affordable housing quotas, public realm improvements, car-park reprovision
- Civic Tower demolition to start late-2025; Queen Elizabeth Hall expected early-2026
QUOTE:
“This is a once-in-a-generation chance to revitalise Oldham’s heart,” said Vogel. “Done right, these projects will stitch residents, retailers and leisure into one thriving urban tapestry.”
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