Key Points
- Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council is planning a highways framework for carriageway resurfacing across the borough.
- The estimated value of the contract or framework is between £15m and £20m over eight years, with an upper estimated total of £20m including VAT.
- The council expects the new arrangement to begin in late 2025 or early 2026, with tenders due later in 2025.
- Contract dates are estimated to run from 5 January 2026 to 2 January 2031.
- The framework is intended to cover carriageway resurfacing and related highways works in Oldham.
- Oldham has also previously described wider highway improvement plans through its Accessible Oldham programme, focused on connectivity and public realm projects in and around the town centre.
Oldham(Manchester Mirror)June 01, 2026 – Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council is looking to establish either a contract or a framework for carriageway resurfacing throughout the borough, according to a prior procurement notice published for the project. The notice said the estimated term would be between five and eight years, with an overall value of between £15m and £20m over eight years, and it set out an estimated total value of £20m including VAT. It also said the council anticipated that the new contract or framework would begin in late 2025 or early 2026, with tenders expected to be published later in 2025.
The procurement notice identifies carriageway resurfacing as the main category of work, placing the framework firmly within the council’s road maintenance and highways programme. The estimated contract dates run from 5 January 2026 to 2 January 2031, which suggests a five-year operating period within the wider estimated framework term. The notice names Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council as the contracting authority and lists the procurement contact details through the council’s commercial procurement unit in Oldham.
What does the framework cover?
The available notice indicates that the framework is intended for carriageway resurfacing throughout the borough rather than a single street or one-off scheme. In practical terms, that means it is likely to be used for planned road surface renewal and associated highways activity over a number of years. The notice does not set out a full itemised works schedule in the material reviewed, but it does make clear that the arrangement is for highways related minor works centred on resurfacing.
Oldham’s wider transport and highways planning has also previously included the Accessible Oldham programme, which the council described as a package of measures to improve accessibility and connectivity around Oldham Town Centre. That earlier programme focused on highway improvement and high-specification public realm works as part of a broader development strategy for the town centre. Taken together, the resurfacing framework appears to sit alongside a longer-running local approach to maintaining and improving roads and streets in the borough.
How is it being procured?
The notice shows that the council is using a procurement process designed to secure a contractor or contractors for the work before the current arrangement expires or concludes. The published timeline suggests the council was aiming to have tenders issued later in 2025, allowing a new framework or contract to be in place by early 2026. This kind of approach is commonly used by local authorities to avoid gaps in maintenance delivery and to keep road works moving under a planned schedule.
The estimated value range of £15m to £20m over the life of the arrangement suggests a substantial commitment to surface renewal across the borough. The inclusion of an upper estimated total value of £20m including VAT underlines the scale of the planned spend. The notice does not confirm how many contractors may be appointed, nor does it provide the final award structure, so those details remain to be confirmed once the tender process concludes.
Why does it matter locally?
A long-term highways framework can matter to residents because carriageway resurfacing affects road condition, travel times and day-to-day access across a borough. For local businesses, road maintenance programmes can influence deliveries, customer access and the reliability of transport routes. For the council, a framework of this type can provide a more predictable way to plan maintenance spending and prioritise the worst-affected roads over several years.
The earlier Accessible Oldham plans suggest that highways investment has been part of the council’s wider regeneration thinking, not only a maintenance issue but also a contributor to urban accessibility and town-centre improvement. That context helps explain why a resurfacing framework would be relevant beyond engineering circles, since road quality often feeds into broader perceptions of public realm and connectivity. The latest procurement notice therefore fits into a longer pattern of transport-related investment in Oldham.
Background of the development
Oldham Council has previously set out highway improvement ambitions through the Accessible Oldham Strategic Partnership, describing it as a package of measures to transform accessibility and connectivity to and around Oldham Town Centre by all modes. That programme was linked to a wider development strategy for investment in the town centre and included highway and public realm works. The new resurfacing framework appears to continue that general direction by providing the council with a dedicated route to deliver carriageway works over several years.
Prediction
For residents, the framework is likely to mean more regular resurfacing activity and potentially improved road conditions over time, although it may also bring repeated short-term disruption where works are carried out. For motorists and bus users, the biggest effect will probably be on route reliability and the condition of key roads, especially if the council focuses the programme on priority corridors. For local contractors, the procurement could create a significant pipeline of public-sector road work if they are successful in the tender process.
