RBH facing council ultimatum over regeneration plan for Seven Sisters and Lower Falinge

Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) is facing a council ultimatum over its controversial plans to demolish four of the town’s Seven Sisters tower blocks.

The 30-year regeneration ‘masterplan’ – which also includes major demolition in neighbouring Lower Falinge – has come under sustained attack from across the political spectrum.

Councillors have long voiced concerns that RBH’s figures ‘do not add up’ – fearing there will simply not be enough properties for those evicted from their current homes under the proposals.

Despite RBH’s insistence that all tenants who wish to stay in the ‘town centre area’ will be able to do so, councillors say the proposals lack clarity and detail.

Chief executive Gareth Swarbrick was heavily criticised failing to provide in-depth information when he appeared before a scrutiny committee last year.

Now RBH is set to be handed an ultimatum – either produce the figures or call an immediate halt to its plans for College Bank and Lower Falinge.

A motion – understood to have cross-party support – will be tabled at next week’s full council meeting by Councillor Danny Meredith.

It states: “RBH urgently needs to provide figures of the number of social rented homes to be built in the town centre area, not in phases, but for the whole project.”

“Currently, residents are concerned because on a weekly bias very little or no social housing stock is available in the town centre area via Home Choice (the system people use to bid for homes in Rochdale).

“If the figures requested above cannot be provided then Mitchell Hey (the first tower block set for demolition) College Bank and the on-going Lower Falinge demolition plan should be halted immediately until the residents, council and RBH are happy with the number of homes to be built in the town centre area.”

It is suggested that work to establish the number of replacement town centre homes is adequate be carried out by a council scrutiny committee and agreed by the cabinet.

However, if these concerns cannot be resolved, it is proposed that the creation of a ‘co-operative model where the council and the residents own and manage College Bank and Lower Falinge properties should be investigated’.

RBH insists that the cost of refurbishing four of the Seven Sisters makes that option financially unviable – and its plan will create a ‘better mix and quality’ of homes in the ‘town centre area’, with ultimately no net loss of properties.

But the motion proposes that monies RBH currently has for demolition should be reinvested in ‘creating decent homes that can be lived in’.

 

 

The council transferred its housing stock to RBH eight years ago. But while four councillors sit on its ‘representative body’, there are none on its board, in either executive or non-executive roles.

The motion says this situation must change, adding: “For the council to continue working as a mutual co-operative with a good working relationship with RBH, there needs to be elected members representing the Council at RBH board level. 

“The Rochdale borough has a massive social housing shortage with 150 more residents joining the list each week and it is imperative action is taken now.”

However, RBH has hit back over the motion, which it says contains numerous ‘inaccuracies and misunderstandings’.

In an official statement, Mr Swarbrick says the landlord has worked with the council on College Bank since 2016 – and if the authority were able to find investment to ‘give the blocks a long-term life, providing safe and secure homes first for the 21st century’ then RBH would ‘happily agree’ to it taking over responsibility for its future.

He goes on to say that RBH will continue to share information with the council, such as the latest independent cost estimate which puts the price of refurbishing the seven blocks at £93m (having previously been put at £70m).

Mr Swarbrick adds: “In the meantime, we will continue to progress our long-term regeneration proposals, which aim to transform the quality, mix, and choice of homes in central Rochdale, increase the overall supply of homes, and support the wider regeneration of the town centre.

“We will continue to provide dedicated support to all those affected, enabling them to move to homes that support a better quality of life.

“The motion tabled unfortunately contains a number of inaccuracies and misunderstandings. It also seeks to commit RBH to doing things that we are already doing.”

RBH says it would be happy to sit down with Councillor Meredith or any other elected member to answer questions and will shortly be arranging a further briefing for councillors.

Nick Statham, Local Democracy Reporter