Kirkholt councillors ‘hacked-off’ with church report

The Strand, Kirkholt

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Two Kirkholt councillors who represent the Rochdale estate named in a new report by the Church Urban Fund as one of the most deprived aeras in the country have told Rochdale Online that the report fails to recognise the great work being done on the ground by local community groups.

Labour Councillor Richard Farnell said he was aware that Rochdale had many issues to face and that £20 million of potential investment had been lost from the Housing Market Renewal Initiative in cut-backs, including the building of new homes and the upgrading of The Strand shopping area.

He also blamed high unemployment and the lack of job opportunities together with the lack of help needed to tackle these issues by central government. He said he is meeting with council officials and Rochdale Boroughwide Housing to take these issues forward and to see what additional assistance could be diverted to the area "to help improve peoples’ life-chances."

Councillor Farnell went on to say that reports of this type, containing what he called ’league-tables’, only served to stigmatise areas like Kirkholt and this could sometimes take years to overcome.

He said: “Kirkholt is a great place and its people are fantastic, hard-working and decent folk who will be ‘hacked-off’ with the report.”

Liberal Democrat Councillor Dale Mulgrew told Rochdale Online that although he didn’t think that anyone would be surprised by the report: “Lots of work has and is being done to address these issues together with some great, unsung and unrecognised work from community groups.”

Councillor Mulgrew added that there were major strategic challenges that needed to be undertaken and a need for what he called "joined-up thinking". He spoke of the need to ensure that job opportunities at the Kingsway Business Park could be taken up by Kirkholt residents and that an adequate bus service needed to be put in place between the two sites to help facilitate this.

There is new house building taking place but he was disappointed that improvements to The Strand had not taken place more swiftly. He went on to say that the Growing Places Fund should be approached to prioritise additional funding to support the area and that ways of attracting private investment should also be considered.

Councillor Mulgrew said that he regretted the report failed to acknowledge or recognise the good work being done by community groups and that this caused a sense of "deflation". He added: “Although I think they do get deflated I also think that they have a steely resolve and determination to overcome such challenging bad press as they quietly continue to get on with the important work they do and they make a positive difference to the everyday life of the estate.

“This report is not particularly helpful as it concentrates on certain indicators and parameters which portray the area in a misleading way and in a bad light.”

He admitted that there were poor health issues that needed to be tackled by "changing the culture" and that the Primary Care Trust needed to deliver on its promise to provide a new health centre for the area in 2015.

He concluded: “At the strategic level, the area needs more jobs and better amenities.”

www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/69906/kirkholt-is-one-of-the-poorest-areas-in-england