Plans for a healthcare facility to serve Shaw and Crompton residents have finally been approved after previously been knocked back.

Based at the site of the former Shaw Baths on Westway, the health centre will serve around 13,000 people.

the three-storey building will accommodate GP practices, dental facilities, extended primary care facilities and there will be scope for shared facilities with the Lifelong Learning Centre, which sits just to the south of the site.

The development will allow for the replacement of two existing medical practices which serve the area, namely The Village Medical Practice and The Oak Gables Partnership.

These practices need to be replaced due to the building they both currently occupy being deemed to be no longer fit for purpose.

The announcement of the proposal's approval comes after previous plans were withdrawn earlier in the year, causing outrage among councillors.

The Oldham Clinical Commissioning Group announced it was axing the original plans back in April due to the proposal being deemed unaffordable.

Shaw councillor and Liberal Democrat group leader, Howard Sykes, said at the time that the withdrawal of the plans had been a "massive kick in the teeth".

However, following a meeting of Oldham Council's planning committee on Wednesday, November 9, residents can now look forward to the new facility.

Members of the committee were recommended to approve the plans through an application report which had been put together on the proposal.

The report concluded that proposal would lead to "the productive use of a highly sustainably located site and facilitate significantly improved healthcare facilities in the town", making it a "welcome addition".

The site is currently made up of a large car parking space, along with an electricity substation, pockets of landscaping and open space.

The plans states 48 car parking spaces will be available at the site of the new health centre, including four spots for disabled persons and six electric vehicle charging points.

There are also plans for a space for people to lock their bikes.

As for the building itself, it will have a "functional, contemporary design" and will be a mix of stone block and render finishes.