RMBC admitting its cuts may increase homelessness!

Councillor Duxbury wrote: I drive home to Stradhoghton thanking God I do not live in Rochdale.

Instead of a feelgood festival, could some sort of weekly free door to door coach service be arranged for those elderly folk who feel trapped in Rochdale, to give them a regular outing to somewhere else for a few hours?

Councillor Duxbury wrote:After covering the various evening council meetings and sub-committees, I drive home to Stradhoghton thanking God I do not live in Rochdale.

Hear, hear.

Councillor Duxbury wrote:
After covering the various evening council meetings and sub-committees, I drive home to Stradhoghton thanking God I do not live in Rochdale.

Having had an apportunity to re-house out of Rochdale some five years or so ago, I still bewail the decision I took to stay in Rochdale. My attempts at optimism are simply exhausting.

[size=18]I am a Rochdalian to my core and spent over 30 years there and I also work there but it is best viewed from afar.

Lived variously in Belfast, Sheffield, Cardiff, Leeds, London and now Stradhoughton.

All have their good and bad points but nowhere that I have lived in has had such a dismal political set-up as Rochdale and it goes back over decades.

Reminds me of a line in the old Phil Coulter song, 'The Town I Loved So Well':-

But when I returned, how my eyes have burned
To see how a town could be brought to it's knees

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Councillor Duxbury wrote:[size=18]I am a Rochdalian to my core and spent over 30 years there and I also work there but it is best viewed from afar.

Lived variously in Belfast, Sheffield, Cardiff, Leeds, London and now Stradhoughton.

All have their good and bad points but nowhere that I have lived in has had such a dismal political set-up as Rochdale and it goes back over decades.

You can honestly say without irony that you've lived in Sheffield and more relevantly Belfast and not seen such a dismal political set-up as in Rochdale? In my opinion you're not viewing the town from far enough.

It were all green hills when I was a lad.
Champion, it were champion.
We had cobbled roads and white-coloured trams,
Brass bands played at the town's parade,
And we sat and talked for hours on the village green,
The days unfolded nice and slow.
It were all green hills when I was a lad,
But, of course, you're much too young to know.

J said, "The council knew what money it was getting from the Government, they therefore knew long ago what was in store financially. I reiterate the council choose what cuts to impose. "

How long before setting this years budget, did they have the final figures of what they were going to get off the government? And do they have any final figures for what they will be getting in the future?

It is also the case that, Councils like Rochdale, have had deeper cuts than other more well off Councils. This partly due to the fact that under previous governments they got larger premiums on top of the revenue settlement, due to the levels of poverty in the Borough. Settlement grants to local authorities now no longer take into consideration the poverty, the make up of the borough, it's all now just based on actual numbers. This has meant deeper cuts for Rochdale , than more well off boroughs. Therefore rich Westminster gets the same per head of population grant as Rochdale, or very near to it.

Can Councillor Duxberry find out if this is the case or not, as part of an investigation for his employers?

And yes I agree that the number of councillors should be cut to 40-2 per ward, and it was a bad move to increase the number of Cabinet posts-following central government's lead there I will add. Also the number of senior management and their salaries could and should have been cut .

Prudence Tempered wrote:

Councillor Duxbury wrote:[size=18]I am a Rochdalian to my core and spent over 30 years there and I also work there but it is best viewed from afar. Lived variously in Belfast, Sheffield, Cardiff, Leeds, London and now Stradhoughton. All have their good and bad points but nowhere that I have lived in has had such a dismal political set-up as Rochdale and it goes back over decades.

You can honestly say without irony that you've lived in Sheffield and more relevantly Belfast and not seen such a dismal political set-up as in Rochdale? In my opinion you're not viewing the town from far enough.

Yes, I can. Sheffield had an extremely good Socialist Council. Free buses, great parks and art galleries. Some grot-spots of course but I lived on a wonderfully designed and landscaped council estate on Gleadless Valley. Worked in the hospitals there and went to university there and my daughter was educated in its schools.

It was taken the piss out of in the Daily Mail as 'The People's Republic of South Yorkshire'. Well, if it was it worked.

Belfast was different. Politics based on pure sectarianism plain and simple but far more transparent and easier to understand than in Rochdale over the years with strange, unfathomable pacts, mass-defections, clan-loyalties, iniquitous voting patterns and the heart of the town encouraged to rot away over three decades as they wine and dine and give each other awards and places at high-table..

Belfast was the friendliest place I ever lived despite the bombings, shootings, bus-hijackings and all the rest. True, I met some evil b*stards but at least you knew how far you could trust 'em and none of 'em needed a Media Department to get their message across!

How perceptive of you to spot unfathomable pacts, mass-defections, clan-loyalties, iniquitous voting patterns and the heart of the town encouraged to rot away over three decades but how perverse of you to attribute them to Rochdale rather than Belfast.

Perhaps it is apposite to ask how much money is GOING to be spent on the forthcoming Christmas Lights switch-on, and where it is coming from.

Councillor Duxbury wrote:

Prudence Tempered wrote:

Councillor Duxbury wrote:[size=18]I am a Rochdalian to my core and spent over 30 years there and I also work there but it is best viewed from afar. Lived variously in Belfast, Sheffield, Cardiff, Leeds, London and now Stradhoughton. All have their good and bad points but nowhere that I have lived in has had such a dismal political set-up as Rochdale and it goes back over decades.

You can honestly say without irony that you've lived in Sheffield and more relevantly Belfast and not seen such a dismal political set-up as in Rochdale? In my opinion you're not viewing the town from far enough.

Yes, I can. Sheffield had an extremely good Socialist Council. Free buses, great parks and art galleries. Some grot-spots of course but I lived on a wonderfully designed and landscaped council estate on Gleadless Valley. Worked in the hospitals there and went to university there and my daughter was educated in its schools.

It was taken the piss out of in the Daily Mail as 'The People's Republic of South Yorkshire'. Well, if it was it worked.

Belfast was different. Politics based on pure sectarianism plain and simple but far more transparent and easier to understand than in Rochdale over the years with strange, unfathomable pacts, mass-defections, clan-loyalties, iniquitous voting patterns and the heart of the town encouraged to rot away over three decades as they wine and dine and give each other awards and places at high-table..

Belfast was the friendliest place I ever lived despite the bombings, shootings, bus-hijackings and all the rest. True, I met some evil b*stards but at least you knew how far you could trust 'em and none of 'em needed a Media Department to get their message across!

I agree with what you say about Sheffield and Rochdale. Would think you are right about Belfast from what I have been told. I think Rochdale went downhill from the early 70's, more than partly due to the fact that we had a MP that was more concerned with sticking his nose into local politics and being a comedy entertainer (very badly) than doing the job at Westminster that he should have done, ie work on getting investment into the town etc.

Nothing to do with the Council allowing the heart to be ripped out of the town then, UpTheDale?

Rochdale Council IS responsible for ripping the heart out of the town since the 70's, as well, J. ALL the political parties, who have had councillors and Mps are responsible-impossible to say or prove which if any is responsible the most, along with a very long list of failing high paid officers etc.

I accept all of that, but also there is a massive problem of high unemployment and a lot of poor wages paid to those that have jobs, that's why the pound shops are busy.

When the cotton industry died many lost their jobs and they were never fully replaced, same with all the engineering works etc.

@Mojo Hill and Poppyanna555 - Thank you for your kind words.

UP THE DALE wrote:I accept all of that, but also there is a massive problem of high unemployment and a lot of poor wages paid to those that have jobs, that's why the pound shops are busy.

When the cotton industry died many lost their jobs and they were never fully replaced, same with all the engineering works etc.

Yes and more pound shops are opening every time I look around. So it makes me think who rubber stamps all the planning permission. Is it not time for someone to stand up and say no to the latest 'tat' shop or loan shark shop and actually try and work out why no quality shops are opening or the ones we have shutting down. Take the Game shop for example. Very highly used and busy. Yet they shut down. Yes they were going through major difficulties. But lo and behold shops previously closed are re-opening. The one in Manchester has now re-opened. One has just re-opened in Watford!

Also why is no high end companies opening on Kingway which was built to promote that sort of business thus bringing in more high value jobs.. But we get sheds and warehouses built instead. Someone clearly got duped by shiny Powerpoint presentations or were allowed to take their eyes of the ball on that concept.

Will there be anyone brought back to account on that?

I agree, BUT can planners or anyone stop a particular type of shop being opened in non council units?

As for Kingsway, many of us questioned/doubted what would really become of Kingsway, when the idea was first suggested.

Charly wrote:I dont agree with selling the towns history...well not until the Vatican has sold off all its treasures to help the poor of the world!

Agreed.

Heywood PP is right to suggest that as an idea. Mind you the Vatican has billions of pounds worth of cash and other wealth. Maybe it's time for religions to help out more. For instance, the Greek Orthodox church has more in reserves than the overall debt of the Greek economy and yet still does not pay taxes. I believe Religions here and the USA are tax exempt too. We are all in it together except for the rich/corporations and religion it seems.

Heywood PP is doing an excellent job in Heywood, and I am full of respect for him, if not the organisation he works for, and I am sure there are many representatives of religions who do great charity work, but we should not have to rely on charities to provide food and other basic needs.


Extremely ignorant comment by "The oracle" regarding the unemployed. In fact they are blind to the realities of Rochdale Borough which does not have enough vacancies to give everyone a job.

Charly wrote:I dont agree with selling the towns history...well not until the Vatican has sold off all its treasures to help the poor of the world!

Spot on, but it's most if not all religions that have lots of wealth.