Oldham Council wants to introduce a Community Infrastructure Levy on new developments it states the money will be used “to support local communities and neighbourhoods by funding improvements to transport links and creating open spaces” the new levy would largely replace current S106 agreements. In less than three years Oldham Council lost several million in agreed developer payment contributions under the S106 agreements after several developers questioned the viability of the projects after construction had started which resulted in reduced payments and in some cases no payment. I would note that the people surrounding Foxdenton have been subject to a seventeen year invasive development project in which Oldham Council made significant financial gains by selling land it owned. This has included The Blessed John Henry Newman RC College, Oldham’s soon to be only sewage works, 500 new homes, a new access road and a 700,000 sq ft industrial Park. Yet we see the Oldham Council owned Foxdenton Hall built in 1710 that has had a leaking roof for many years continuing to decay while the Council continues “to support local communities and neighbourhoods” with regeneration in target wards only, where any gross financial contribution to local government comes from huge supplementary benefit payments rather than wages and savings.
