Oldham Council is bragging that the old town hall has had 300,000 visitors since it opened and won 14 awards. At £39.4 million some £29.4 million over the original budget all of which was funded by the public purse why should it not win design awards when it had no budgetary constraints? As for the 300,000 visitors Oldham Council of course doesn’t expect anyone to do the math. Checking tomorrow’s listings the Odeon Oldham has 29 screenings a day so 300,000 people visiting over 15 months works out at just 23 people watching each screening, is it really good value for the £39.4 million contributed by the public purse? The council press release also makes reference to the scheme being a “public/private sector partnership” which it has never been. The entire scheme was funded by public sector cash and every other company involved was either contracted and paid to do work or rented bespoke created space in the development where the council incurred all costs relating to tenants building requirements. Developer/contractor and landlord/tenant are not partnerships.
