Thank you to Oldham Council for this kind letter. Your formal support of investing in & restoring the pitches on West End Street in Coldhurst by accelerating the central government funding for a resurfaced all-weather sports pitch is extremely welcome.
The Labour-backed amended motion passed is July and reaching this milestone is thanks to the relentless hard work of all those who came together at our clean-up event last year and who have been working tirelessly behind the scenes: local councillors Abdul Malik & Abdul Jabbar, community groups, local organisations, and volunteers.
This journey began with the last Labour government who put the money in for this community facility to be established. They only still exist and are therefore able to be invested in because of the hard work of local Labour councillors to fight the 14 years of cuts to local services by the Tories. Labour delivered these facilities to Coldhurst before, and we will again.
Restoring West End Street Pitches so it can be put into the hands of local people for community use has been a long held priority. We have:
๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ & ๐ฎ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ’๐ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป to reaffirm support
worked behind the scenes to ๐ฝ๐๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ
organised a ๐ฐ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป-๐๐ฝ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ข๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ to begin to transform the pitches
engaged with local people throughout to ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ & ๐บ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐๐บ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐
introduced the ๐๐ป๐ด๐น๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป & ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น so residents have more power to rescue the venues
Promoting community ownership was one of our four core priorities for the people of Oldham West, Chadderton & Royton at the election last year, and the work on West End Street pitches is just one way we have delivered on that priority to empower local people, preserve heritage, and save local venues.
In the same way trade unions are about fighting for people to have more power where they work, ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ.
The state we are at with this project is pleasing, but we are not yet satisfied. Yes, the motion passing the Council is a win for local people who have been fighting for a better future, but our campaign is still ongoing.
A cooperative model for governance is being explored by the Labour-led Council, a proposal which we whole-heartedly support and call on the Council to implement. Furthermore, the enthusiasm and local buy-in to the vision so far has been fantastic โ letโs keep it going. If you want to get involved with the restoration of the pitches, or want to use them for the good of the community once they are ready: please get in touch at jim.mcmahon.mp@parliament.uk 
In an area bounded by busy roads like Oldham Way, Chadderton Way, Rochdale Road and Middleton Road, a facility like this is vital for local children to have a safe place to play, get good exercise, see friends and get involved in sports clubs. The work behind the scenes to secure the necessary funding, engage with the surrounding community, survey the site, and engage with stakeholders will continue until the facility is back to its former glory.
Head to my Facebook page to see the letter in full.
Jim McMahon OBE MP 