Decision details

Purpose of the Report

a.    Government announced the High Street Accelerator Programme in September 2023 and invited Oldham Council to submit an expression of interest in participating due to the high level of vacant premises in the town centre.

b.    The Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities confirmed ten towns to participate in a High Street Accelerator pilot. Our High Street Nomination Form was completed for Union Street and Yorkshire Street as the pilot high streets for this funding based on existing data, notably.

c.    In 2019, Oldham town centre was identified as one of the top 20 town centres in the country most ‘at risk’ from key consumer trends (Oldham Economic Review).  Geographically, Oldham struggles with leakage of jobs, visitors and spending to central Manchester and surrounding towns, and employment has fallen consistently in recent years, leading to vacant retail and eatery units; according to CACI Retail Footprint Data, the flows to Oldham town centre have retracted significantly and the spend profile for Oldham reduced from £170m in 2010 to £156m in 2017.

Reasons for the Recommendations

The purpose of this report is to seek approval to accept Oldham’s pilot grant allocation of £500,000 from the Green Spaces Fund held by Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), and to approve the programme of spend for the various projects it will fund. 

Options/Alternatives Considered:

·         Option 1: accept the Green Spaces Fund grant of £500,000 from DLUHC, progress the proposed projects detailed in this report and expend the grant monies as detailed in the funding breakdown.

·         Option 2: do not accept the Green Spaces Fund grant of £500,000 from DLUHC and do not progress the proposed projects detailed in this report.

The preferred option was option 1.

Decision

1.    To accept an external Green Spaces Fund grant and to expend the funding on progressing the proposed High Street Accelerator programme projects.

2.    To delegate authority to the Section 151 Officer to finalise and formalise a Memorandum of Understanding with DLUHC with regard to the Green Spaces Fund grant funding arrangements and any other documentation required by DLUHC.

3.    To delegate authority to the Borough Solicitor to carry out all necessary legal formalities.