Memorandum by Oldham Metropolitan Borough
Council (LR 75)
INTEGRATED TRANSPORT: THE FUTURE OF LIGHT
RAIL AND MODERN TRAMS IN BRITAIN
I write on behalf of Oldham Metropolitan Borough
Council in support of the submission made by the GMPTA and the
GMPTE.
THE STRATEGIC
IMPORTANCE OF
METROLINK
We welcome the opportunity to submit supportive
comments to the Committee on the future of light rail and in particular
to stress its strategic importance to Oldham.
Once the home of "King Cotton", with
more workers per square mile than anywhere else in the world,
Oldham is emerging from decades of industrial decline to a brighter
future. Together with the rest of the Greater Manchester conurbation,
Oldham has been part of a resurgence in the sub-regional economy,
which has seen it jump five places in the deprivation league table,
from 38th in 2000 to 43rd in 2004. This resurgence has largely
been the result of organic growth with strong performance from
local companies such as Zetec, Ferranti Technologies, Innovative
Solutions, Park Cakes and Dunlopillow Slumberland.
We recognise that the future prospects of Oldham
are inextricably linked with the development of the sub-regional
economy and the future strength of Manchester as the regional
centre. In order to make the recent upturn in economic performance
sustainable the benefits which light rail, through Metrolink,
has brought to other parts of the conurbation needs to be replicated
In Oldham. That is why Metrolink is a key element in our forthcoming
Community Strategy:
"City: A short Metrolink ride away will
be Manchester City Centre and beyond, the Airport, Salford Quays
and the Trafford Centre. The Greater Manchester Metrolink network
will make people feel part of the wider city region and allow
them to access all of its opportunities and facilities. They will
have the skills to compete for the wide range of jobs which the
conurbation can offer."
For us, Metrolink will not simply be a nice
thing to have or another important transport project, it is fundamental
to secure the renaissance of Oldham and the regeneration of the
Town Centre and key parts of our community.
AN INTEGRATED
TRANSPORT SYSTEM
We would wholeheartedly support the comments
made in the GMPTA/GMPTE submission regarding the importance of
light rail being part of an integrated transport system. We would
see Metrolink providing the key access route to Manchester City
Centre and its main rail line stations, the Airport and key employment
sites such as the East Manchester and Kingsway Business Parks.
If Metrolink does not replace the Oldham Loop line then the existing
Heavy Rail route would need a large and continuing capital investment
to allow continued use. This expenditure would not bring any of
the benefits that would attach to Metrolink, particularly the
diversion of route through Oldham Town Centre.
However, we must emphasise that we have not
been sitting back waiting for the dream of Metrolink to happen.
As a Highway Authority we have been actively pursuing the investment
to make an integrated transport system a reality and taking a
robust approach to the implementation of projects that will support
and complement the Metrolink network.
The GMPTA/GMPTE submission points to the fact
that certain Quality Bus Corridors will provide high frequency,
high quality services that will feed Metrolink. Reference is made
to the Huddersfield Road corridor east of Oldham that will serve
a bus/light rail interchange at Mumps, complemented by the parallel
Lees Road route. However, that is only part of the story, we are
proud to be at the forefront of the introduction of Quality Bus
Corridors in Greater Manchester and the development of them along
each of our major radial routes to Ashton, Royton and Chadderton
will help to support the creation of an integrated network. The
advent of Metrolink will help to complete the circle and ensure
that a quality public transport alternative is available along
all of the key transport corridors that access Oldham Town Centre.
AN INTEGRATED
APPROACH TO
REGENERATION
We have already outlined the strategic importance
of Metrolink. This is particularly so when viewed in the context
of the main aim of the Council, as outlined in the Corporation
Plan: Regeneration through Community Cohesion.
Metrolink will offer significantly improved
access for Oldham residents to a much wider range of jobs not
only in the City Centre but also at Kingsway and Central Manchester
Business Park (both served by the Oldham/Rochdale Metrolink).
Metrolink has also been a central plank of our
regeneration plans set out in "Oldham Beyond"—a
strategy for the future regeneration of Oldham agreed by the Council,
the Oldham Partnership and the Regional development Agency. Its
potential impact will be felt all the way along the route. Key
reasons why abandoning the scheme now creates problems for regeneration
are:
Failsworth
Major investment in town centre needed to restore
confidence in the area.
Town centre lies on the boundary between the
(relatively) prosperous southern part of the town and the HMR
area to the north. Metrolink would serve this area and provide
a focus for renewal and investment that will help secure the commitment
of the proposed new anchor supermarket to the new town centre.
Hollinwood
Already the home of the Daily Mirror's northern
operations and chosen as the new headquarters location for Northern
Counties Housing Association, Hollinwood is currently the focus
of a new joint study with EP and NWDA to secure the regeneration
of what is potentially an extremely well located site on the M60,
some 20 minutes from the Airport and, with Metrolink 10 minutes
from the City Centre with a frequency of 10 trams an hour. Without
Metrolink, access to the City Centre is restricted to a half hourly
link to Victoria Station and a walk/transfer to tram taking, on
average 18 minutes.
Werneth/Freehold
One of the two first HMR areas, the area is
currently not well served by the heavy rail network because of
the difficulty in providing stops on what is in railway terms
a steep incline. The improved performance of Metrolink means that
it will be possible to provide two new stops that will significantly
enhance the attractiveness of the area. One stop that is immediately
adjacent to Hartford Mill is seen as being the one key factor
that will encourage the conversion of this listed building to
housing use. Without this conversion the only way forward is likely
to involve the demolition of the building.
Town Centre
The existing heavy rail serves the town centre
very poorly. The topography of the area means that the train cannot
get into the town centre and instead follows a peripheral route
alongside the town centre ring road. Although served by two stations,
both are 15 minutes walk uphill and both involve crossing the
ring road.
Metrolink, with its superior performance is
able to climb further up the hill into the town centre and an
alignment has been protected for it for some years. This alignment
has been largely cleared so that work could start as quickly as
possible once the scheme was approved, to be followed by a number
of new developments which would capitalise on the improved accessibility
offered by Metrolink to help secure the regeneration of the town
centre. Cancelling Metrolink will create enormous uncertainty
in respect of these developments.
Derker
The second of the two HMR areas, the area around
Derker station is seen as one of the key regeneration pump primers
in the Derker area, capitalising on the improved accessibility
that Metrolink will offer and encouraging the redevelopment of
marginal industrial areas around the existing station for high
density Metrolink related residential development.
Shaw
Another local centre with considerable potential
where the uncertainty caused by the cancellation of Metrolink
will not help to encourage new investment.
This list highlights the extent to which going
back on the decision to convert the Oldham/Rochdale line to Metrolink
will create uncertainty and make it even more difficult to stimulate
Regeneration in Oldham. In the Oldham situation the position is
compounded by the fact that Metrolink is essentially taking over
an existing railway alignment. This route has been starved of
investment and forward planning simply because its future was
seen as an integral part of the Metrolink network. Cancelling
Metrolink is therefore not a do nothing option in the case of
Oldham which compounds the uncertainty.
This demonstrates that the importance of Metrolink
in the golden thread which links together various elements of
the regeneration agenda is well understood locally in Oldham and
in Greater Manchester. It is true to say that it is also understood
by parts of central Government, such as ODPM, and national and
regional agencies such as English Partnerships and the North West
Development Agency.
Central Government is often imploring Local
Government to get its act together and operate in a more joined
up way. We would assert that has been achieved in progressing
the regeneration agenda for Oldham within the Greater Manchester
context. It also links in quite strongly to the visions set out
by the ODPM in "the Northern Way".
The Department of Transport now has a real opportunity
to take a significant step towards realising plans developed between
agencies over the last decade. We believe that the integration
of light rail investment with other spending plans, and the added
value that provides to regeneration, needs to be a key element
of the Committee's deliberations.
I would commend the GMPTA/GMPTE submission to
you and I hope that the information contained herein helps the
Committee in understanding the fundamental importance of Metrolink
to the continued renaissance of Oldham and other parts of the
Greater Manchester conurbation. I realise that the Committee is
working to a tight timescale but I would be more than willing
to expand on the issues outlined above if the Committee decides
to seek the submission of further evidence or testimony.
Andrew Kilburn
Chief Executive
February 2005
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