From The Council Leader: My, that budget council meeting was lively

Council Leader Councillor Richard Farnell

As ever with this council’s budget - the seventh in a row - we endeavour to spread our ever decreasing central government grant in a way which provides as much of the things that mean most to our residents and businesses.

May I thank everyone who took part in the debates to put forward our case. We were successful in exposing the opposition’s amendments as not worth the paper they were written on.

It's full of facts and figures on the government budget cuts as well as setting out the progress this council is making - a few of the highlights are:

• We'll be investing an additional £2 million into repairing our roads and potholes, bringing the total investment by this Labour council close to £20 million.
• From Saturday 1 April 2017 we'll be scrapping the charge – up to £50, residents currently pay for a replacement general waste bin.
• We'll be diverting our airport dividend away from the general pot to support projects for our young people. Our Youth Parliament will decide how it is spent.
• We'll introduce a scheme that will ring-fence council jobs up to grade 3 for the borough’s residents.
• Rochdale Town Hall. 
• Where Rochdale leads…
• Following our budget, we received national plaudits as well as congratulations from The Children’s Society for our pioneering decision to scrap Council Tax for care leavers. 88% of youngsters leaving care end up in debt. Setting up your first home is difficult enough, axing the Council Tax will be a big help. Manchester’s thinking of doing the same.

Honesty is the best policy.

I was invited to attend the launch of the Honesty Library in the Wheatsheaf Shopping Centre this week.

The concept of the Honesty Library is simple; shoppers of all ages are welcome to sit back and relax in the comfy library and read a book, take a book in exchange for another book or leave a small donation that will go to The Brain Tumour Charity.

I was heartened to learn this week that our much-needed M62 relief road has been given the green light by government.

I would like to think the letter I penned to Chris Grayling asking for a commitment to the project did the trick.

I suspect the press coverage my letter received was more likely the reason government gave us the assurances we were after.

It was an honour to be elected to serve on one of the Co-ops national bodies recently.

I will serve as national vice-chairman of the Co-operative Council’s Innovation Network, which promotes co-operative values and supports investment in local community co-operatives across the country.

I will play a key role in shaping the group’s future policy direction, helping to ensure Rochdale and other northern councils have a voice at the top table.

Rochdale’s cooperative vision and timeless values helped shape the town, so I am proud to be elected. Our proud past can help us shape a better tomorrow.

Some recent criticism gave my deputy Councillor Allen Brett the opportunity to put pen to paper and outline what we are doing for local businesses.

The letter said:

Here are just a few of the most recent measures your council has taken:

• Introduced three hours free parking anytime to help boost town centre trade.
• Offered business rates cuts of up to 80% to attract independent retailers – 22 new shops have opened.
• Set up a £1 million fund to help firms relocate to Rochdale, buy new machinery and create new jobs. Over 200 new jobs have been created so far.
• The council-funded Rochdale Development Agency last year directly assisted 18 new firms to relocate to Rochdale and supported the creation of 240 new jobs and safeguarded a further 455.
• The council is helping shops on the high street with a £5,000 shopfront grant.
• We have vastly improved the look of the town centre with stunning new floral displays and extra street sweeping.
• We are building 40 new micro-business units to encourage small firms to set up.
• Supported Tetrosyl – the world’s leading car care manufacturer - move to Rochdale. It will employ 600 people locally.
• Built 5 new units on Kingsway Business Park to attract new employers to the town.
• We’re working with the private sector to build a new £100 million new leisure, shopping centre and new market – bringing high street names back to town and creating 1,000 new jobs.
• Labour is investing in our wonderful heritage to attract visitors and shoppers to the borough – including the restoration of the town hall, top class events, the river reopening and the Gracie Statue.
• If Rochdale is so business unfriendly, why did firms invest more than £200 million throughout the borough in employment and commercial developments last year, creating a further 2,072 jobs?

Well said Allen.

Talking of helping businesses, last week I visited two shops who have taken advantage of our Business Rates Relief scheme available to new shops opening in Rochdale, Middleton and Heywood town centres. 22 have taken advantage of the scheme so far.

If our children are our future, we're well placed if the turnout at the recent UK Youth Parliament is anything to go by.

An impressive 11,000 school pupils turned out to vote in this year’s elections won by Hollingworth Academy student Sarah Mahmood.

Sarah said she will campaign for cheaper transport, reform of GCSE resits and for more awareness about mental health issues, during her one-year term of office.

I was pleased to hear recently that the youth service in Middleton is taking the lead in encouraging the town’s communities to engage with the 'In Bloom' competition.

Let’s hope they build on the success of all other townships in supporting their communities to work together to improve their environment. This not only has the obvious benefit of improving the physical appearance of the area, it also, crucially, promotes community cohesion and pride in where they live.

Rochdale Celebrates Golden Success at 2016 RHS ‘In Bloom’ Awards.

Congratulations to all the environment groups who turned out across the borough on Saturday 4 March 2017 to take part in The Big Clean. What a difference your efforts have made. Thank you.

The National Heritage Lottery Fund are visiting Rochdale this week to examine our £15 million bid to restore Rochdale Town Hall. Fingers crossed.