Benchmarks needed to restore confidence in Kingsway, says Danczuk

Date published: 13/05/2008

Rochdale’s Labour Parliamentary Candidate has called on senior council officers and Rochdale Development Agency (RDA) to introduce employment benchmarks to restore confidence in the Kingsway development and give a measure of the progress that is being made.

Despite receiving criticism from both the RDA and the Lib Dems after he recently voiced concerns over news that the De Vere Village Hotel had pulled out, Mr Danczuk says he has received messages of support from the public.

“I am not alone in wanting to see measurable progress at Kingsway,” he said. “Many people have told me they feel the same. This is an ambitious project and it’s one that I fully support. But I do think there needs to be a measure of accountability so we know that our local economy is being guided through difficult times in a responsible way.

“The culture of secrecy around Kingsway is unsettling, as is the fact that the Lib Dems feel it is appropriate to fob us off with the line that we should wait 15-years before asking questions. I want to see a clear and accountable measure of progress so we know what employment opportunities will be available to the people of Rochdale in the near future.”

The Kingsway team confident of bringing the Village Hotel to Rochdale and had already launched a training programme for out-of-work people in the Borough to equip them with the necessary hospitality skills to help them secure the 200 jobs that would have been created at the four star hotel.

In launching the programme, Kingsway Recruitment Team Manager, Helen Darwent, explained: “We wanted to equip and prepare people in anticipation of these opportunities.”

Mr Danczuk said it was regrettable that these opportunities had now disappeared and rejected RDA’s explanation that the “worldwide economic slowdown” was responsible for De Vere deciding to pull out.

“De Vere are opening Village Hotels nearby in Ashton and also in Leeds this year and it has also recently been announced that they are looking to more than double its portfolio of Village Hotels in the next five years,” he explained. “At the moment there is no official statement on Kingsway’s website about the fact that the Village Hotel has fallen through and I do not think that references to the global economy are in any way convincing.”

He added that of the 7,250 jobs that are expected to be created by Kingsway by 2022, he wanted to know how many would be created by 2010.

“I’m aware that many people in Rochdale are looking for a better way of life and they want to know what opportunities will be available in the near future,” he said.

“The marketing team for Kingsway has recently publicly stated that its best selling point is that it has stuck to schedule. Peter Gallagher, who is spearheading the marketing, said that: "People like certainty and they want to see that infrastructure work has been done." I would agree with this but people also want to see certainty regarding jobs delivery and that’s why, in what is a difficult economic time for many, I think we need to know when the jobs will be delivered.”