Concern over ‘hammering and banging’ noises recorded at former Turner Brothers Asbestos site

The former Turner Brothers Asbestos factory

Hammering and banging noises have been recorded at the former Turner Brothers Asbestos (TBA) site in Spodden Valley.

Concerned resident Kate Lawrence, who first heard the noises over a year ago, said: “These noises have been going on for over a year now and it definitely sounds like work is going on in the building. I hear noises similar to things being thrown in the back of a truck or dropped, and even what sounds like large pieces of steel crashing. It echoes around the building. It’s not the odd bang of something falling; it’s continuous.

“I emailed the TBA Project Team this month, who replied saying they can’t hear the noises, and that it is the building in disrepair ‘due to the advanced dilapidated state of the buildings’. I know the difference between the sounds of pieces of building dropping and work being carried out.

“They don’t seem like they want to look into it, although they said several people have been in touch. They don’t appear to want to investigate and I’m very concerned with their evasiveness.”

She added: “I wrote to Nicola Rogers and asked about the noises in January when the investigations were being performed. They just sent me a link to the work that was going on.

“I’m very annoyed concerns are not being addressed properly and I will be emailing my MP to complain about the TBA Project Team.”

A spokesperson for the Save Spodden Valley campaign said: "We can confirm that locals have heard muffled dull repetitive banging noises from within the former TBA asbestos factory buildings for several weeks.

"From sight of the correspondence with concerned members of the public and the often anonymous ‘TBA Project Team’, it is understandable why some locals think that Rochdale Council appears to be acting as a PR agent for the mysterious off-shore owners. This may be unfair, but unsurprising given the swift manner the TBA Project Team appeared to dismissed the concerns of local people without apparently any site investigation.

"On letters distributed to the public last year, the TBA Project Team used official Rochdale Council, Director of Public Health notepaper. It is somewhat confusing that a private email address is used and that email headers and footers are often blank whilst at other times they mention Rochdale Council's Riverside office. Correspondence usually has no officer name with it, just 'TBA Project Team'.

"Surely there needs to be more accountability? Reasonable and legitimate concerns have been raised questioning ongoing activity on the derelict site of what was the world's largest asbestos factory. Rochdale Council is the leading statutory stakeholder with duties for local public health and the environment. This must be conducted in a fair and balanced way. Is an open and transparent conduct of important matters that are in the public interest too much to ask?"

Nicola Rogers, Rochdale Borough Council’s public protection service manager, said: “We are aware of complaints regarding noise coming from inside the former TBA building and have looked into it.

“The site owner’s agent has confirmed that no work is currently being conducted on site and security is present on site.”