Petition against the closure of the One Shop in Falinge

Members of the community in Falinge have started a petition to protest at the closure of the One Shop.

The ‘Don’t Shut the One Shop’ campaign group met outside of the shop last week to speak to residents and gather signatures for their petition.

After two hours outside of the shop, over 40 people had signed the petition, which will now be presented to Gareth Swarbrick, Chief Executive of Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH).

David Fenwick-Finn from the campaign group said: “Quite a few of the people who signed the petition had no idea about what actually went on in the shop, which from our point of view is a failure of communication on RBH’s behalf and not a good indicator of the ability of RBH management to effectively restructure and deliver support for the tenants.”

The closure of the shop was announced at the beginning of May with many residents being upset at the decision made by RBH.

Residents have described the shop as “much needed” and stated that it is a “valuable place for advice and support for Lower Falinge tenants.”

A spokesperson for Rochdale Boroughwide Housing said: “RBH is strongly committed to supporting the community in Lower Falinge.

“RBH will not be ending any of the activities it supports in Lower Falinge, and we will be continuing to work closely with the Police to facilitate their work from the One Shop. This includes working with the Police to develop a bid for funding to enable the Police to deliver additional activities from the One Shop.

“Our change to service delivery is not a reduction in resource in Lower Falinge. However, instead of Community Action Workers waiting in the One Shop for the small number of tenants who ‘drop in’ three mornings a week, they will be able to offer support to tenants and activities out and about in Lower Falinge and via the Neighbourhood Housing Office.

“We are investing millions of pounds in developing new homes in Lower Falinge as well as the improvements that will be carried out to existing homes. This investment goes hand-in-hand with our support for the people that live there and we know we need do this together with the community in the most effective way.”