New Year Comment

2013 proved to be another difficult year for the borough of Rochdale. In fact, some may say that 2013 was Rochdale's 'annus horribilis' but was it really?

Of course some dreadful things happened, none more so than the brutal murder of Middleton soldier Lee Rigby. Such barbarity is beyond comprehension and our hearts continue to go out to Lee's family and friends.

The sex grooming scandal and Cyril Smith's abuse of young boys, that had tarnished Rochdale's reputation in 2012 and brought the borough to the attention of the nation in a most unwelcome way, continued to dog the borough in 2013.

Smith's abuse, and the extraordinary cover up that went on for decades, was chronicled on national TV in a Channel 4 documentary entitled, 'The Paedophile MP: How Cyril Smith Got Away With It'.

In May, an independent report into child sexual exploitation in Rochdale was published and concluded that senior officers of Rochdale Council turned a blind eye to child sex abuse.

A long delayed Serious Case Review was finally published in December and heavily criticised Rochdale Council and GMP, along with 15 other agencies involved in the care and protection of vulnerable children.

Also in December, another five local men hit the national headlines when they were were convicted of grooming then raping and sexually abusing an under age girl.

Rochdale continued to attract attention of the wrong kind when the Council proposed massive pay rises for senior council executives at a time when cost cutting had seen hundreds of council workers lose their jobs and those that remain facing increased work loads and pay increases capped at 1%.

The high cost of rates on Rochdale's main shopping streets was the focus of an independent review (The Grimsey Review) published into the continued demise of High Streets, and a walk through the town centre shows the sad consequences with a record number of shops and units lying empty.

There has though been much good news in 2013:

• Number One Riverside, the new council offices, opened for business. 
• The Metrolink works on Drake Street finished.
• Rochdale Metrolink opened.
• The new Transport Interchange opened.
• The 'Rochdale Riviera', the project to open the River Roch in the town centre, won crucial Heritage Lottery Fund support.

The Arts:

• The Feel Good Festival again attracted thousands to the town centre.
• The first Rochdale Literature and Ideas Festival was a major achievement and a great success.

Sport:

• Rochdale Hornets collected their first silverware since 1922 by beating local rivals Oldham Roughyeds in the Kingstone Press Championship One play-off final and gained promotion.
• A Rugby League World Cup game was played at Spotland Stadium, Fiji versus Ireland, and attracted a full house. 
• Keith Hill returned as Rochdale manager and steered the club into safe waters at the end of last season and has Dale once again chasing promotion this season.

Business:

• Entrepreneurship is booming - Rochdale had the highest number of business starts ups in the region.
• Despite the unfavourable economic climate, Kingsway Business Park continues to make progress and was named as one of the UK’s most active projects.

Jobs:

• The number of job seekers in the borough has continued to fall throughout the second half of the year.

Co-operative:

• Rochdale Boroughwide Housing became a true mutual, owned solely by tenant and employee members. 

Education:

• Rochdale Sixth Form College continues to excel, students achieving a pass rate of 99% in their A level examinations. 

Indeed, even a cursory trawl of the Rochdale Online news database for 2013 shows many more good news stories than bad news stories, but sadly the good news has been swamped by the enormity and seriousness of the bad news.

This has resulted in some well-meaning individuals setting up websites, or 'groups' on social media sites, with the aim of promoting a positive image of Rochdale.

At face value one would assume this to be a good thing, and at worst no harm can come of it. However, in their desire for people to be uncritical, dissenters are labelled "negative" or their contributions removed.

This neutering of critical discourse is misguided and could unwittingly condemn Rochdale to yet more decades of a blind eye being turned to wrong-doing and poor decision making.

If we are to genuinely 'learn the lessons' from past mistakes we must accept critical discourse as a healthy and essential means of improving standards and accountability.

A new year brings new hope and it is our hope that a Rochdale that was at times on the ropes in 2013 continues to fight back in 2014 - that can only happen if we are honest with ourselves and are allowed to be honest with each other.

Rochdale Online wishes all our readers a peaceful and prosperous New Year.