Regeneration award is a victory for Langley

An award recognising excellence in planning or regeneration has been won by the team responsible for Housing Market Renewal on Langley in Middleton.

Neighbourhood Programme Manager Steve Bloomer received the Dave Davison Memorial Award at a presentation last week.

The Leader of Rochdale Council, Councillor Alan Taylor said that Housing Market Renewal on Langley is making significant improvements in many ways to the lives of local people: “The challenges involved in the scale of the scheme are huge. Implementing the regeneration requires constant application and sustained effort.”

Amongst particular features noted about the HMR team’s work on Langley were:

• The successful removal of a history of community negativity about Langley and the promotion of a positive ethos and trust for future regeneration.
• Developing an effective consultative structure to respond to community needs
  developing and maintaining a vision for Langley coupled with the enthusiasm of staff over an extended period. 
• The large scale and diversity of the project, where the benefits range from small individual to community wide improvements from the regeneration activities.

Neighbourhood Programme Manager Steve Bloomer said: “When I came to work on Langley in 1991 Dave Davison was my manager and mentor. I’m extremely proud to have won this award. The award acknowledges the work done by all the partners involved in revitalising Langley including the most important people, the local community.”

Dave Davison served Rochdale Council for many years in the field of regeneration and planning and was recognised throughout the Council for his excellent contribution. Sadly, Dave died shortly after retiring. His widow, Kath, proposed that a Memorial Award for Regeneration be presented, funded from Dave's Long Service Award, as a way of remembering his contribution to the Council and Rochdale Development Agency (RDA) in the fields of regeneration and planning.