The 'Big Debate'

Date published: 16 March 2010

Billed as the 'Big Debate', with the candidates from the main three political parties taking the hustings, the big debate was quite small, only 75 people turned up, and despite the sandbagging of Lib Dem MP Paul Rowen, he still managed a comfortable points victory over his two rivals, the pleasant but make weight Conservative candidate, Mudasir Dean and the unnecessarily aggressive Labour candidate, Simon Danczuk.

Chairing the event MEN Media editorial director Eamonn O'Neal gave Mr Danczuk and Mr Dean an easy ride whilst doing a Paxman on Mr Rowen. However, despite having everything to lose in agreeing to the debate, and despite being set up as the patsy, Mr Rowen kept calm and acquitted himself well.

Mr Dean of course knows he has no chance of winning the forthcoming election, and though his time may come in a winnable Tory seat in the future, he did not do enough to inspire in this debate.

Mr Danczuk had everything to gain but threw away his advantage by coming across as one audience member described as "surly and unpleasant", and though he did give the occasional good incisive answer, any fair minded person watching would have to conclude that Mr Danczuk's habit of snarling his way through answers is far from endearing.

Mr Danczuk made big play of the town centre redevelopment having to be scaled down and insisted the redevelopment should be postponed until better economic times return. Mr Rowen played the ball back hard and fast, and well beyond Mr Danczuk's reach, when he read out a statement by the Director General of the British Retail Consortium, who said: "Many of the problems of town centres have more fundamental causes than simply the economic slowdown and they will not disappear just because recovery is underway."

Mr Rowen also pointed out that prior to the current Lib Dem Council, Labour had been in power for years and they had no redevelopment master plan, no new bus station plans, no new sixth form plans and had made no effort to secure investment in the town centre.

Mr Rowen also revealed that with plans now in place to complete the ring road around the town centre (at Wood Street) Metrolink would not only arrive at Rochdale train station in 2012 but also arrive in Rochdale town centre, at the new bus station, by "Spring 2014".

Mr Danczuk dealt better with a question from Mark Reynolds who asked had money been spent on the Kingsway Business Park development at a cost to the town centre redevelopment. Mr Danczuk said both were needed but expressed his concern that £30million of public money had been spent with little return to date. Mr Rowen tried to parry by saying Kingsway was always a long term project but Mr Danzcuk countered well by expressing the concern many in the town have that we cannot afford promises of jam tomorrow when the cupboard is bare now.

Mr Rowen recovered by taking Mr Danczuk out of his comfort zone of criticising the town centre and into the responsibility to the rest of the borough, it is not just the town centre that is suffering, Mr Rowen said, and the Council has a duty and a responsibility to ensure all areas of the borough get their fair share of help and support.

Mr Dean added little other than to say Kingsway was needed but the town centre needed improving quickly.

Andy Miller asked the panel what they thought was wrong with the town centre. Mr Rowen said it had been in decline since the 70s when mistakes were made and the market and land was sold off and a lack of investment.

Mr Danczuk, again, answered the question he wanted to have been asked rather than stick to the question asked, and said that a "big bang" investment was not needed, constant stimulation was.

Mr Dean had his best moments answering this question and laid the blame firmly at the door of the Labour Government "for a lack of vision" and an "incompetent Local Authority". To his credit Mr Dean also gave his solution, he said what was needed was to "sell" Rochdale better.

A quick show of hands to see how many people shopped in neighbouring towns revealed that around 70% shopped in Bury, 50% in Oldham but encouragingly 90% of the audience shopped in Rochdale town centre, though with the bulk of the audience being town centre retailers and political activists/ politicians that was not a big surprise.

All three panellists agreed that the shopping centres charge too much in rents. Mr Rowen and Mr Dean felt they also had to pay too much in rates. Mr Danczuk felt that with the additional relief just brought in by the government business rates were now reasonable. Mr Rowen and Mr Danczuk were in agreement that the Council should negotiate to take back ownership of the market and relocate it - Mr Rowen felt one of the larger stores on Yorkshire Street would be a good location, Mr Danczuk championed The Butts.

There were more questions and a similar pattern followed with each, Mr Danczuk criticised the Council, seemingly failing to understand that he was debating with the town's MP and aspiring to be the town's MP, and the remit of the town's MP does not include the Council. With no disrespect intended, Mr Dean had become something of an irrelevance as Mr Danczuk continued playing to the audience and Mr Rowen batted away all the hand grenades Mr Danczuk, aided it has to be said by Chairman of the Panel Mr O'Neal, was attempting to send his way.

One audience member, Pat Fletcher of Norden, did veer from the obvious when she suggested that the whole concept of a 'town centre' was past its sell by date. She said people no longer had an interest in town centres; they shop and bank online, and go to out of town malls and supermarkets. She got little support from the rest of the audience who disagreed when asked if we need to rethink the whole concept of town centre.

Mr Rowen highlighted the need to create jobs because, he said, if people don’t have money to spend they will not go to the town centre shops, even if all the shops that are empty could be filled.

Mr Dean felt young people needed to be listened to more.

Mr Danczuk wanted more "asking" to be done, but then perhaps he has a vested interest in championing more research given he owns a social research company who get paid to ask questions, and he squirmed in embarrassment when an audience member asked him why his company was based in Manchester not Rochdale - the surprise here was that Mr Rowen did not heap on further embarrassment for Mr Danczuk by mentioning the call centre in Egypt.

Mr Danczuk did resonate when he said what the town does not need is an "identikit" town centre, and cited Hebden Bridge as an example of a centre with a difference. He then undid his good work with a bizarre insistence that locating the new sixth form college and the new leisure centre just outside the ring road would act as a barrier to young people coming into the centre; as one young student in the audience, Cavan Simmonds, said later: "we are capable of crossing roads, and frankly Mr Danczuk hasn't a clue if he thinks that will put young people off."

In summing up Mr Danczuk was brief and his main point was he wanted more such debates which, given his performance, came as somewhat of a surprise.

Mr Dean said he was sad at the situation the town centre is in and suggested the founding fathers of the co-operative movement would be turning in their graves.

Mr Rowen reiterated the town centre's problems were as a result of a long term lack of investment and mistakes made by the Labour council in the 70s selling off the town's assets.

As Mr Danczuk and Mr Dean had done, Mr Rowen thanked the hosts for organising the event but perhaps having taken in good humour a number of Paxmanesque jabs from MEN Media editorial director, and chairman of the panel, Eamonn O'Neal he reminded Mr O'Neal that the newspaper had closed its offices on Drake Street and left town.

What can be gathered from the debate other than the obvious need to improve the town and to do so quickly?

A disappointingly small number of people attended suggesting either people are beyond despair, with a belief that nothing can or will be done, or a strong disenchantment with politicians - or maybe both.

The candidates’ performance:

The most impressive was Mr Rowen, followed by Mr Danczuk with Mr Dean holding up the rear.