My Letter to RBH

Posted By: Dale Mulgrew
Date Posted: 16/09/2009

LUNCHTIME CLOSURE OF KIRKHOLT HOUSING OFFICE

I was interested to be informed of the proposed closure of the Kirkholt Housing Office during the lunch period which will commence from the start of next month. Furthermore, I have no objection to the rationale behind the reshuffle of staffing accommodation throughout RBH’s South and Pennines operations, nor do I have any apprehension around the logic that you have used to support the closing of the housing office during the lunch period, based on low footfall.

Where I do have anxiety though, is that this closure is not the start of a “slippery slope”, to a further withering of opening hours, and so the commencing chink in the armour is not further exposed. You can understand that, once a closure is implemented, it can with great swiftness and ease of thought, direct further closures if the first set is deemed successful. One would not like to see the start of this to unravel further for the Kirkholt community that the housing office serves.

We also have the future demolition of The Strand and the implications of that particular scenario for the continuation of the housing office. It is incumbent on me to once more reinforce that Kirkholt is the largest housing estate within Rochdale and, because of this fact, there will always need to be a frontline housing support service within the community, serving the needs of the community, and on hand as part of the fabric of the community, and without this there would be far reaching consequences for both the welfare and the cohesion of the estate. I would be interested to hear what commitment you can provide around the future position of this housing office?