Save Spodden Valley - 1000 letters of objection

Already 1000 protestors speak up about Spodden Valley

Over 120 people braved a windy Saturday night to attend a fundraising evening for Save Spodden Valley. Guests from as far as Cheshire came to Spotland Reform Club to hear news that Rochdale Planning Department has already received over 1000 individual letters of objection to the plans to build 650 homes on the site of what was the world's largest asbestos textile factory.

Councillors from all parties attended the event, including Leader of the Council Cllr. Paul Rowen, Cllr. Elwyn Watkins, Cllr. Tom Stott and Cllr. Ann Metcalf. Jim Dobbin MP donated a bottle of House of Commons whisky as an auction item.

The hall was filled with photographs of recent events in the Spodden Valley including the Children's march to Rochdale Council Planning Department. Other photographs showed the decontamination work currently being done that is removing piles of exposed asbestos from upturned tree roots in woodland owned by MMC Developments Ltd and offshore-based company Rathbone Jersey Ltd.

This asbestos removal work is occurring about 100 metres from where national house building company Countryside Properties PLC have applied to build a housing development. A Countryside Properties PLC spokesman stated on national radio last month that local people were "wrong" to say that asbestos was exposed on the site.

Speaking at last Saturday's event, Jason Addy from Save Spodden Valley thanked the audience for their support. He explained how experts in health & safety, contaminated land, asbestos, wildlife and planning matters have all volunteered their help in researching and publishing technical papers objecting to the proposed development: "This is a campaign that has received support from experts throughout the UK, Europe, Australasia and North America. These experts say that investigating all the facts about the former asbestos factory site may be the only way to keep our community safe".

Spodden Valley campaigner and auctioneer for the night, Al Somerville summed up the evening:"The event was a fantastic success. A big thank you to everybody who attended and have put in so much hard work and time to raise awareness about this planning application. It is incredible to see the depth of feeling this campaign is raising".

Mr Somerville, a retired telephone engineer, was one of the speakers from Save Spodden Valley that met up with representatives of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) in Preston last week. Questions about the controversial planning application and implications for communication workers are being asked at national level.