Spodden Valley receives more national attention

Date published: 28/11/2005

During a House of Commons debate last week Rochdale MP Paul Rowen quizzed a Minister from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs about the proposed development of Spodden Valley.

Paul pointed out how complex Spodden Valley site is, and that the Government’s response has lacked guidance or clarity.

Said Paul: “With three Government Departments and four Government Agencies all involved, I never know who’s going to be answering my questions, never mind what the answer will be!

“We need clearer guidelines on the safety of removing rubble, clearing land and building on the site. It’s time that the Government and their Agencies come clean to the people of Rochdale. For example, the developer said that he would be happy to see his Method Statement in the public domain, but Health and Safety Executive and the local authority won’t release it. Britain does has Freedom of Information Laws – they just don’t apply to this case!

“This is too important an issue to be bungled because of conflicting rules and ambiguous advice. Thousands of people have already died because of asbestos; thousands more will die in the future because they have already been exposed to asbestos. We must not let number grow still higher.

“With the recent removal of rubble from the site things have become even more urgent, but the people of Rochdale are united. The Save Spodden Valley Group, myself and my colleague Jim Dobbin MP, and thousands of local residents will continue our work to make sure there local people are not put at risk.”