American star cheered onto stage by ‘outraged’ community, after being dropped from Hopwood Hall plans

Date published: 26 November 2024

An army of volunteers say they are outraged after being ‘locked out’ of a landmark they’ve been trying to restore for almost a decade.

The sudden decision from Rochdale Council to cut ties with American actor Hopwood DePree over the borough’s historic Hopwood Hall sparked confusion and anger in Middleton. Mr DePree had expressed interest in buying and restoring the hall, but earlier this month Rochdale Borough Council decided not to renew an exclusivity agreement.
 

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The authority claimed he couldn’t develop a viable business plan to redevelop the hall. Since then, volunteers from the community, who have been instrumental in sprucing up the Grade-II* listed building, say they have been blocked from entering the site.

The council argued this was done following health and safety breaches associated with incomplete risk assessments.

Last week, hundreds of locals flocked Smalley Memorial Hall for a public meeting which saw a number of the ‘Friends of Hopwood Hall’ group deliver passionate speeches on what they described as an appalling situation.

Boyd Taylor, one of the many volunteers, told the crowd: “I want to express my personal feelings about the initiator of this effort, Hopwood DePree, whom I now consider a good friend. How many people would be willing to up sticks and relocate to a foreign country to undertake such a momentous task as he has done?

“Now they [the council] have disgustingly pulled the rug from under him and want to take over themselves. We are all appalled.”

After volunteers told individual stories on what the Hopwood Hall project meant to them, the crowd cheered Hopwood DePree onto the stage.

He told the onlookers how he was devastated by the council’s decision not to renew their exclusivity agreement after years of hard work on the project.

Concluding his speech, Mr DePree said: “We are ready for a fight. I feel confident and inspired. We will rise up and we will get to where we need to be.”

A spokesperson for Rochdale Borough Council, said: “As building owner, the council is able to terminate a licence to occupy with immediate effect if the occupant is found to have been in breach of the licence conditions.

“In this case, the occupier has been in breach of health and safety regulations. This meant we did not have the appropriate assurances that people were working safely on site.

“We have contacted the applicant on at least three occasions to give them the opportunity to rectify these issues, but they have still not been resolved. For that reason, we have terminated the licence and taken back occupation of the building to ensure the safety of the licensee and any visitors to the hall.”

Despite this, the council has emphasised it wants to continue working with the volunteers at Hopwood Hall. They have also initiated a feasibility study to look into how the hall can be used in the future.

Leader of the council, Councillor Neil Emmott, said: “Hopwood Hall is a local historic asset which means a great deal to the people of Middleton and indeed the wider borough. Something as important as this is about much more than one person, however well-intentioned they may be.

“Public assets are owned by our residents and we cannot allow them to transfer to a private individual without a great deal of care. Mr DePree was asked to meet a number of conditions when we entered into our agreement with him.

“We would be failing in our duty to protect our historic assets if we didn’t hold Mr DePree to the terms of this agreement.

“We know that many local residents have put their heart and soul into Hopwood Hall’s restoration as volunteers on the project. We’re very clear that we will continue to involve those volunteers and the wider community in any future plans.”

George Lythgoe, Local Democracy Reporter