Oldham Rochdale renewal in chaos after tram halted

The £2.4bn regeneration of Oldham and Rochdale has been been thrown into turmoil after the Department of Transport withdrew backing for a £1bn tram link.

The extension of the Metrolink tramline to Oldham and Rochdale was central to the two Greater Manchester districts’ 15-year regeneration plan.

Roger Ellis, chief executive of Rochdale council, said: “We have been relying heavily on the extension. It’s been important to the regeneration effort for a long time now; our plans have been based around the proposed route.

“The potential demise of the Metrolink weakens the pathfinder from an economic point of view.

“Crucially, the neighbourhoods in the pathfinder would have had tram stops and access to the town centre and beyond: this would make housing and commercial property much more lucrative.

“We were confident of renewal based around the Metrolink bringing these benefits; this process will now be much more difficult.”

Ellis added that, although the 70,000-home pathfinder would proceed as planned for two years, the strategy beyond that “would have to be rethought”. The project has received £53.5m in ODPM funding for its first two years.

The Manchester Salford pathfinder will also be affected by the move, but not as badly because the Metrolink line already runs through its boundaries.

All 10 councils in Greater Manchester will meet MPs, businesses and tenant groups on Monday to discuss a campaign to save the scheme.

It is understood senior ODPM officials are livid at the decision, announced last Tuesday, and want “urgent meetings”.

We were confident of renewal based on the Metrolink. It will now be much more difficult

Roger Ellis, Rochdale council

An ODPM source said: “The plans for Oldham and Rochdale assume the Metrolink extension will go ahead. Unpicking this will cause serious problems.

“The impact could be as serious as sending them back to the drawing board.”

An ODPM spokeswoman said: “We recognise the potential impact on the Oldham Rochdale and Manchester Salford pathfinders. The ODPM will be discussing the implications of the decision with the Department of Transport.

“We will also be working closely with the pathfinders to ensure the impact is minimised.”

A Department of Transport spokesman said: “We considered all these things when we originally gave the bid approval.

“[But] costs increased again and again so we could not approve it with no guarantee it wouldn’t happen again. We are fully aware of the disappointment and concern this has caused and we will work with the local authorities to try to develop alternatives.”

The Oldham Rochdale pathfinder bid for £600m from the ODPM over the 15 years of the project. It expects investment from the private sector to lift the total regeneration budget to £2.4bn by 2020.

The Manchester Salford pathfinder could not be contacted for comment.