The leader of Oldham council has slammed colleagues for ‘playing with politics’, as she considered the borough’s future outside a Greater Manchester housing masterplan.
Though Arooj Shah commented it was ‘unlikely’ the council would be allowed to withdraw from Places for Everyone (PfE), town hall bosses were forced to make ‘contingency plans’ at a cabinet meeting on Monday evening (March 3).
Last month, the authority narrowly voted to request a withdrawal from PfE, a housing agreement aiming to bring 170,000 new homes across nine Greater Manchester districts, which Oldham approved just under a year ago.
The request is currently with deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing Angela Rayner. This weekend, she hinted she intends to turn down the withdrawal bid.
Addressing her Labour cabinet last night, Coun Shah said: “Whilst some would argue that the outcome of that extraordinary council meeting was democratic, I would disagree.
“I would say that is when politics is done badly and political games are played with issues that are of grave significance to the importance of this borough and the opportunities that come with it.”
She took aim at political opponents as town hall bosses were forced to consider both scenarios for the future of the council’s Local Plan, a crucial document that guides town planning decisions.
If the borough stays within PfE, the Local Plan will be ‘complimentary’ to the existing masterplan, which already includes 11,500 new homes for Oldham and claims to use a ‘brownfield first’ approach.
But if the borough leaves, the town hall will need to ‘start from scratch’, creating a new local plan that includes Labour’s higher housing targets. This would take longer to complete, though an officer report pledged to bring a draft version to cabinet in June 2025.
Shah said it was ‘wise’ to consider both options, which were unanimously approved at the end of the meeting, but added: “I do think we should note the deputy prime minister’s comments over the weekend. She made it really clear and hinted that her preference is for Oldham to stay as part of the Places for Everyone Plan.”
Around half of councillors voted to write to the Secretary of State on February 13, with some arguing PfE was the ‘wrong approach’ to tackle the borough’s housing crisis and chronic lack of investment. During the debate, Liberal Democrat councillor Howard Sykes, a long-term opponent of the scheme, argued: “Expensive luxury housing on the greenbelt is not the answer to the housing crisis. This will be a developer and profit-led plan, not a people and need based plan.”
Campaign group Save the Greenbelt believe PfE does not afford enough protection to the borough’s valuable green spaces. Labour councillors maintain that by ‘sacrificing’ a small amount of green belt land, they are ‘protecting the rest’.
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