This nonsense of renaming one of the boroughs most well known streets, St Mary’s Way, isn’t about honouring Norman Stoller it is about creating and rebranding the dividing line between St Mary’s with all its socioeconomic issues and the new housing estates to be built on the market and civic centre sites. The delusion that the problems of all the wards bordering the new developments will not spill over into this area is just ridiculous. By the time the shit hits the fan and just like Jim McMahon with all his failed schemes before her Arooj Shah will have been moved on to Westminster by the Labour executive. What is happening now with Arooj mirrors exactly what happened with Jim McMahon lots of artist impressions, lots of photo opportunities, lots of videos and lots of press praise followed by tens of millions wasted schemes abandoned and promised jobs never materialising. Renaming the main street in the number one MSOA area in all of Oldham for working aged benefit claims after a famous businessman and philanthropist doesn’t seem just a little ironic to anyone Housing Benefit Way would be more honest and a more appropriate name. You can read the councils press release here.
