Oldham Council has consented for “alternative uses to be permitted at Ascroft Court, Ascroft Street / Peter Street, Oldham” As per usual the Council is unwilling to disclose any details citing commercial sensitivity and private business confidentiality. After some tracking around the internet we found that as we thought Ascroft Court is the small industrial Park directly behind Oldham Job Centre and the Spindles car Park entrance. When we say industrial park its most recent tenants are Citizens Advice, Back 2 Work Training Ltd, The Race Equality Partnership, Best Connection Employment Group and Ashcroft Medical which is a Polish medical clinic with a UK website written totaly in Polish. The change of use is for seven of eight units to become residential properties, if ever there was a more inappropriate place to live in Oldham we cannot think of one. Clearly despite what Oldham Council and the local papers tell the population about Oldham’s desirable Town Centre it still fails to attract independent business without incentives hence the change of use. Oldham’s emergent economy is now centred around the management of deprivation, immigration and benefit dependency as demonstrated by the number of companies now providing related services in Oldham. Who else but the poor or those without choice would chose to live behind Oldham’s job centre? Oldham Council’s tagline “Oldham is a great place to invest, visit and live”
