Hare Hill House could still be in with a chance of winning £25,0000

Hare Hill House could still be in with a chance of winning £25,000 to help with development plans.

On Friday, those behind the campaign to secure the funding thought that they had lost but have today received a phone call letting them know that an investigation is currently under way after it emerged that some projects may have cheated.

Peter Reed, who was encouraging people to vote, said: “It is all up in the air now really. I have just been told that Engage Mutual are re-counting the votes and looking into the fact that some people may have cheated.”

A supporter for Hare Hill house had noticed that one project had managed to secure over 400 votes between 11.30pm and 4.30am. This information was then passed to Engage Mutual.

Peter added: “The lady I spoke to said that they don’t think anyone has bought email lists but they may have used previous ones to get the votes so they are investigating it. A lot of people are asking for projects to be disqualified but there are people who have legitimately voted for them so they are going to recount the real votes and go from there.”

Hare Hill House in Littleborough was nominated for the £25,000 as part of Engage Mutual’s community reward scheme. The money would be used for repairs to the roof and rainwater goods, to refurbish the former council chamber and to refurbish some furniture.

“Even if we don’t get the money this time around we have been told that we could be put in for the next round of funding that they give out and that doesn’t usually happen because once it is done it is done,” said Peter.

It is hoped that the house could be re-developed to be used for a community centre for people in the local area.

Peter said: “We don’t have anything like a community centre in Littleborough whereas Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale all have places to provide something like that. We really need the Council to get on board and help us because it is something that people want.”

The project received over 2,000 votes to help them try and win the funding and Peter thinks that an extra 1,000 votes would have been received if other voting options were available. He added: “We received over 2,000 votes so that is 2,000 people who want to see Hare Hill House stay and be used. I then think that if a paper vote was available for the older people who don’t use the internet then there would be at least another 1,000 people who would have voted giving over 3,000 people supporting this project.”