Help us to protect Saddleworth
You will be asked in a Referendum to be held on 10th December 2026:
“Do you want Oldham Council and the Peak District National Park Authority to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Saddleworth to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?”
You will be asked to vote YES or NO. Postal votes can be submitted.
Saddleworth’s Neighbourhood Plan gives people in the area, and the Parish Council, legal power to hold anyone trying to develop in the area to higher, more localised standards.
Most planning policies are top down – they are general national rules. This is Saddleworth pushing back – setting local standards that are right for our area.
For example, there are specific sites included which will be given specific protections, including a large section of Saddleworth next to the National Park.
It includes policies such as:
- Support for health, education and community facilities (developments should ensure good access to health services, and priority is given to supporting new community, transport and health facilities which are easy for residents to access).
- Housing (to address under-provided housing needs including affordable and social housing for first-time buyers and pensioners, prioritising sustainable and brownfield sites).
- Environment and green spaces (including protection of Public Rights of Way, sites of Ancient Woodland, the introduction of “Local Green Spaces” (sites protected in a similar way to green belt), and the use of energy efficient building methods).
- Improved transport (support for improved transport connections, such as better access to Greenfield train station, a potential future train station, and better connections to Oldham, Manchester and across the Pennines).
- Protecting our heritage and reviving old buildings (heritage buildings to be brought back into use wherever possible).
You can find more information at www.saddleworthparishcouncil.org.uk
And on Oldham Council’s website.
Neighbourhood Plan final version for Referendum