We need to rebuild - not re-brand, say shoppers

Nicola Kay

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Town centre shoppers have slammed Rochdale Borough Council for spending £67,000 on a re-branding plan, instead of using cash to rebuild a “ghost town.”

Rochdale Online News took to the streets this afternoon (Tuesday 9 June) to see what people wanted to see changed in the town centre.

The collective opinion was to fill up disused buildings and replace pound shops and takeaways with larger high street names.

As previously reported, Rochdale Council plans to spend £67,000 on marketing schemes to change the way the borough is perceived, but shoppers say the money is better spent breathing new life into the quiet town centre high streets.

Nicola Kay, from Milnrow said: “The town centre is a mess, and it is in desperate need of being built back up.

“Re-branding is surely not the answer, who is it going to fool?”

Peter Holt, Littleborough said: “Rochdale Council has a habit of wasting the taxpayer’s money. To re-brand is just to paint over the cracks rather than fixing them.

“I have lived in Rochdale all my life and it was a completely different place only 10 years ago. We had cinemas, dance halls, and a real community. Let’s put this back rather than paying for making the council look good with a new identity.”

A lady, from Castleton, who did not want to be named, said: “We are living in a dead town. Most people in this town don’t even vote any more, because there is no faith in the authorities. And with behaviour like this, who can blame us.”

Ellen Kay, from Littleborough: “Re-brand to what? There is nothing to brand. When people say they are going to ‘town’ it often means they are going to Manchester, Oldham, or Bury, what does that say about the state of Rochdale?

“If there is £70,000 going spare, shouldn’t it be invested in Yorkshire Street and Drake Street? The main town centre streets have nothing on them, so re-branding is going to help no-one.”