High Street Foundation meeting

The High Street Foundation meeting held on Wednesday night (9 July) at Rochdale Town Hall, attended by over 50 local businesses, discussed topics including the proposed opening of the River Roch, Cooperative Heritage Trails and town centre demolitions.

Speaking to Rochdale Online, Chairman of the High Street Foundation, Paul Clark said: “We are very pleased with how the meetings run. If we can provide that forum for people to be able to discuss their issues and plans for the town then we are doing something right.”

The meeting opened with a discussion regarding the newly launched Cooperative heritage Trials. There are many cooperative buildings still standing in Rochdale and the trails will allow members of the public to discover them.

The meeting then moved on to discuss the demolitions and highways plans currently ongoing within Rochdale town centre.

John Searle from Rochdale Development Agency (RDA) provided a presentation to update those in attendance about the ongoing changes to the town.

Work has now started on River Street and a taxi rank on Smith Street is due to be completed in September/October. Milton Street will be made a two way street to allow access to Penn Street and Bailie Street car parks.

A pedestrian crossing is also being implemented on Smith Street. This development comes after concerns were raised by local councillors and members of the public regarding safety in the area. It is understood that there are 40 bus movements per hour on Smith Street.

In regards to demolitions, the demolition of the Black Box is well underway with two floors of the building having already been removed. It is anticipated that demolition will be completed by January 2015.

The new entrance to The Wheatsheaf Centre is currently being built on Bailie Street and is also expected to be completed by January 2015.

Once the black box and bus station demolition is completed, a temporary car park will be on the site until the new retail development is built. There is currently lots of discussion taking place with major retailers to bring them into Rochdale and onto the town centre east site.

A decision has not yet been made regarding the opening of the River Roch. The general feeling from the meeting was that local businesses want to see the river opened up again. Councillor Peter Williams encouraged the High Street Foundation to be vocal about their feelings towards the project and stated that he would facilitate a meeting between the Foundation and the leader of the council, Councillor Richard Farnell.

Mark Widdup, Director of Economy and Environment at Rochdale Borough Council then moved the meeting on to discuss the Tour de France weekend.

He described the weekend as “amazing” and also went on to congratulate the Rochdale Round table on their first dragon boat event which raised over £10,000 for Springhill Hospice.

Activities for Armed Forces week were also praised. They included the Heywood 1940s weekend and a business event with Simon Weston OBE.

The next meeting of the High Street Foundation will take place Wednesday 6 August.