Plans to revitalise a part of Oldham appear to have been shelved by after Oldham Council said it was looking at new possibilities for a site at Prince’s Gate, Mumps, after agreeing with supermarket chain Lidl not to go ahead with the sale of the land to them.
Lidl had in 2019 entered into a conditional contract with the Council to purchase the land and build both a food store and a 68-bedroom hotel.
Lidl had also subsequently entered into an agreement with a national hotel chain to operate the hotel once it was developed. However, since the Covid pandemic, the hotel hospitality sector has been particularly hard hit for new locations with many operators now concentrating on their existing sites rather than expanding into new developments.
Under the terms of the contract between the Council and Lidl, the entire project needs to be delivered in full.
Whilst Lidl was willing to continue to pay the agreed sale price and develop a food store they were unable to commit to a hotel development due to the present volatility in the hotel hospitality sector post Covid-19.
A decision to terminate the contract is set to be recommended at the Council’s Cabinet on Monday 23 January.
The council says it is reviewing options for this location and expect to announce shortly its preferred uses and re-marketing timescale.
Councillor Amanda Chadderton, Leader of the Council, said:
“We are obviously extremely disappointed by the outcome of the situation.
“I want to reassure people that we are continuing to work hard to deliver a positive outcome at the Prince’s Gate site, and we aim to turn our focus now into making this a positive opportunity for the land.
“Unfortunately, global events out of our control have affected the hotel market to such an extent, that they have told us this is no longer viable for them, given how hard they have been hit financially over recent years.
“It was 2014 when retail plans for Princes Gate were first discussed. Oldham Town Centre and our regeneration plans have moved on significantly since then with the renovation of the Old Town Hall, the hugely ambitious programme for Spindles and what will be the new indoor market and significant investment and ongoing work at the old Public Library.
“We are committed to making Oldham Town Centre a place to live, work and socialise and in addition to the improved leisure offer, this is coming to fruition in the form of Accessible Oldham, the new Brian Clarke Academy and our plans for up to 2000 new homes in the town centre.
“We will use the coming months to reflect on how best we can develop Princes Gate to enhance our hugely ambitious plans and improve the town centre further”.
Liberal Democrat Opposition Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE said,
“Prince’s Gate was lauded as a game-changer for Oldham but more than eight years and four Labour Leaders later it’s gone out with a whimper. Labour can add Prince’s Gate to long list of abortive regeneration projects they’ve championed over the years including so called plans for Hotel Futures. We also still wait for the Egyptian Room in the old Town Hall to be brought into use, years after the rest of it was reopened. It’s a dismal track record.”
