Metropolitan Borough of Oldham
:
For the main settlement, see Oldham. The
Metropolitan Borough of Oldham is a
metropolitan borough of
Greater Manchester,
England. It is named after its largest town,
Oldham, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of
Chadderton,
Failsworth,
Lees,
Royton, and
Shaw and Crompton. The borough also covers the
Saddleworth area.
The
Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale lies to the west, the Metropolitan Borough of
Kirklees to the east, and the
Metropolitan Borough of Tameside to the south. The city of
Manchester lies directly to the south west.
The current borough was formed on
April 1,
1974 by the
Local Government Act 1972 as one of the ten districts of Greater Manchester. It was created by the merger of the
County Borough of Oldham along with the
Chadderton Urban District,
Crompton Urban District,
Failsworth Urban District and
Lees Urban District from
Lancashire and the
Saddleworth Urban District from the
West Riding of Yorkshire.
The seven areas which together make the borough, are the basis for the civic logo, which has seven distinct squares.
Prior to the implementation of the borough in 1974, it was proposed that the area be named the "Metropolitan Borough of Newham", or the "Metropolitan Borough of Milltown". These names however were strongly objected to, by local communities.
The boundaries of three parliamentary constituencies cover the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. These are:
*
Oldham East and Saddleworth represented by
Phil Woolas MP (which also covers parts of
Milnrow in the
Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale)
*
Oldham West and Royton represented by
Michael Meacher MP.
*
Ashton-under-Lyne represented by
David Heyes MP (which predominantly covers the
Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, but also
Failsworth of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham).
The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham is locally administrated by the appropriately named
Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council, and was formed in
1974 by the conjoining of the following seven areas:
#
Saddleworth#
Shaw and CromptonUnparished areas
Showing former status (prior to 1974)
#
Chadderton (Urban District)#
Failsworth (Urban District)#
Lees (Urban District)#
Oldham (County Borough)#
Royton (Urban District)
Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council
The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham is divided into twenty wards each which elects three councillors who generally sit for a four year term. These democratically elected councillors together form the
Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council, a body with direct local administrative responsibilities. The twenty wards are:
*
Alexandra*
Chadderton Central*
Chadderton North*
Chadderton South*
Coldhurst*
Crompton*
Failsworth East*
Failsworth West*
Hollinwood*
Medlock Vale*
Royton North*
Royton South*
Saddleworth North*
Saddleworth South*
Saddleworth West & Lees*
St James*
St Marys*
Shaw*
Waterhead*
WernethSee maps illustrating warding of OldhamOldham Metropolitan Borough Council has been known to be criticized, both by locals and by official commissions. In
2005, it was categorized as "weak" but "improving well" by the independent
Audit Commission [
1]. It was awarded only two stars, placing it within the bottom third of councils in the country according to perceived perfomance [
2].
According to the
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council currently sets the highest
council tax rates in
Greater Manchester. It has the second highest council tax rates of the
metropolitan areas, and is currently placed as the 16th highest rate of council tax in
England[
3].
In response to these findings, on the 30th March
2006, the Oldham
Labour Group of Councillors took out a full page advertisement in the
Oldham Advertiser. Among the claims of the advertisement were that they were providing the borough with a "star studded service" despite the fact they were awarded the second worst achievable rating by the commission. Furthermore, they claimed the social services were also "star rated" despite being classified as "weak". Council Leader David Jones was said to be pleased with the Commission's findings and is quoted as saying "It is just the beginning, but it shows we are on the way to being an excellent Council". However, one of the points of the advert was to contrast the position when the Liberal Democrats had control of the Council in 2002. Then the Audit Commission reported the council was "very weak" and in 2002 the Liberal Democrats raised Oldham's council tax by 12.3%.
Coat of Arms
The
Coat of arms is the historic family crest of
Hugh Oldham, Bishop of
Exeter and founder of the
Manchester Grammar School. They feature an owl holding a scroll bearing the letters "Dom", making a name-pun "Owl-Dom" typical of the medieval period. The pun reflects the original pronunciation of the name, and is still reflected in the local pronunciation of "Ow'dom".
The pun is repeated in the town's latin mottos : the older one reads "Haud (pronounced "owd") Facile Captu" (meaning "Not easily caught"), and the current motto "Sapere Aude" (meaning "Dare to be wise" — the "Aude" also being pronounced "Owd").
This is a list of secondary schools and colleges in the entire Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. For schools within the main settlement, see Oldham.*
Blue Coat School*
Breeze Hill School*
Crompton House [
4]
*
Counthill School*
Grange School [
5]
*
Hulme Grammar School*
Kaskenmoor School*
North Chadderton School*
Oldham Sixth Form College [
6]
*
Our Lady's R.C. High School*
Royton and Crompton School*
Saddleworth School*
South Chadderton School*
St Augustine of Canterbury R.C. High School*
The Hathershaw College*
The Oldham College [
7]
*
The Radclyffe School[
8]
