22 July 2014

To: Leader’s Office UNISDR Council Palais des Nations Level 3, Civic Centre, West Street 1211 Geneva Oldham, OL1 1UG Switzerland Tel: 0161 770 1201 [email protected]

Dear Michael Dear Sir/Madam

On behalf of Oldham Metropolitan Borough it is my pleasure to submit our application to become a Participant Member of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) ‘Making Cities Resilient’ campaign.

The borough of Oldham is situated in the north-west of England and is part of the Greater sub-region. We are proud of our unique location, local heritage and diverse communities. Our location on the M62, between Manchester and Leeds, means we are in a pivotal position between the Greater Manchester and Leeds sub-regions, making us the key gateway to the north-west region and Yorkshire, by road, rail, motorway and the recently opened tram.

Whilst being only five miles from Manchester City Centre we are also fortunate to be close to superb countryside, with almost a quarter of the borough in the Peak District National Park. This means that no residential location in the borough is more than two miles from open countryside. With a population of nearly 225,000 Oldham borough comprises the towns of , , Lees, Oldham, Royton, Shaw, the township of Crompton, and the village of Saddleworth. Whilst there is a strong One Oldham ethos in place, we are also proud to maintain the identities and heritage of each town; from the dense urban areas close to Manchester to the rural, farming communities located in the north and east of the borough. The profile of the borough’s population means that we have diverse communities within Oldham, made up of people from a range of ages, backgrounds and cultures. We want our communities to be confident enough to strive, and demand more for themselves and the places they live but we also want our residents to take more responsibility for and be more actively involved in improving their neighbourhoods.

Alongside our national, regional and local partners we are also shaping the future of the borough through working in new and different ways. For example, nationally we are at the forefront of transforming public services through our involvement in the community budgets programme. Locally we are pioneering a co-operative council approach that proactively engages communities in decision-making and in collaborative forms of service design and

delivery. Externally, we have embarked on a significant regeneration programme with a particular focus on the town centre combined with our pledge to ‘Get Oldham Working’.

Our ambition is to deliver a co-operative future where everyone does their bit to create a confident and ambitious borough. This ambition is underpinned by three objectives: • a productive place to invest where business and enterprise thrive • confident communities where everyone does their bit • a co-operative council creating responsive and high quality services

Our vision of creating a co-operative, sustainable future in which the resilience of places, together with the people who live and work there, is a key determinant aligns with the UNISDR campaign. We want to work collaboratively, not just on a local, regional and national level, but also engage where possible with international partners. We believe we have valuable experience in dealing with emergencies and also have robust contingency planning in place which makes Oldham a resilient place to live and work. However we also understand that there is always much to learn through the experiences of other urban areas in improving resilience to disasters.

Thank you for considering our application. We look forward to working within this exciting programme to deliver real and effective improvements to our resilience to disasters for both the public and local businesses.

Yours sincerely

Councillor Jim McMahon (Failsworth East Ward) Leader of 0161 770 4031 [email protected]