Hop on the Bus and Have Your Say

Transform Your Town!... With Plasticine

1 More Image(s) In Gallery

Residents who rolled up their sleeves and modelled an 'Inner Rochdale of the future' with Plasticine will soon see their handiwork recreated into professional maps.

The illustrations will be on display for the first time on a red double decker bus that is touring the Inner Rochdale neighbourhoods of Spotland and Falinge, Kirkholt, Sparth, Milkstone & Deeplish, Newbold next week. The bus will be packed full of information about multi-million pound ideas to transform parts of the Borough.

Housing Market Renewal is improving areas where there is low demand and a limited choice of homes to serve the needs of local people.  More than £17 million is being spent in the Borough in the first two years of a 15-year Government programme.

Vanessa Kilburn, a mum-of-one, who took part in the modelling workshops last month, is looking forward to seeing the group's model transformed into a quality map. 

She said: "We went on a walk around neighbourhoods taking note of problems like dumped tyres and shopping trolleys and seeing where improvements could be made to houses and open space.  We then went to other boroughs that have
benefited from regeneration. This helped us create models with better roads, parks, streets and housing for Rochdale.  It was great fun - I can't wait to see how the maps look."

All residents are urged to hop on the red bus and give their views on the suggestions made.  A specialist firm of urban renewal designers will use residents' views to help shape masterplans for the Inner Rochdale neighbourhoods.

The bus will be in Spotland and Falinge, Kirkholt, Sparth, Milkstone & Deeplish, Newbold and the town centre from Monday 23 May to Saturday 28 May.

Donna Bowler, Borough Urban Regeneration Manager, said: "We had really interesting suggestions.  Some teams worked on radical models and others were more conservative but it was surprising how much consensus there was. It's exciting to see the models made into proper maps."

Special drop-in sessions have also been planned for residents to ask questions of the Housing Market Renewal team.  The sessions will take place on Tuesday 24th May, 2 - 6pm at Littleborough Community Campus, Littleborough Wednesday 25th May, 2 - 6pm at Rochdale Town Hall and Thursday 26th May, 2-6pm at Middleton Civic Centre.

For a full timetable of where the bus will be please call Kaye Mahoney on 01706 745113 or email Kaye.mahoney@rochdale.gov.uk

Housing Market Renewal work is already taking place in the Rochdale neighbourhoods of Wardleworth, Hamer, Mayfield, Town Head, Bellshill, Cloverhall and on the Langley estate in Middleton.  Other areas that could benefit include Milkstone & Deeplish, Kirkholt, Newbold, Spotland and Falinge and Sparth.