Copies of the Atkins Report Summaries on Rochdale Online

During her inaugral report to the council at last night's full council meeting (Wednesday 26 July) in her position as Portfolio Holder for Environment and Sustainability, Councillor Wera Hobhouse answered the question of Council Leader Alan Taylor "how is the council communicating the Atkins report to the public" by explaining that copies had been sent to party leaders, council officers, Save Spodden Valley campaigners and a press release had been issued to the local media. Cllr Hobhouse added that in time she intended the report be more widely available by "being on the internet".

Unknown to Cllr Hobhouse at the time was that Rochdale Online already has copies of the report online and these can be read and downloaded/printed (in PDF format) by clicking on the following links:

News/media/AsbNonTechSummary.pdf

News/media/NonAsbNonTechSummary.pdf

Save Spodden Valley campaign coordinator Jason Addy welcomed the news that the report is available so quickly to the public via Rochdale Online, he said: "Given the importance, we should ensure that as many people as possible have the opportunity to read it."

A spokesman for Rochdale Online said: "The report is of huge local interest and we believe all the people of the town, not just local officials, should have an opportunity to read the report. It is important that copies are made as widely available as possible as quickly as possible. The most efficient means of effecting this is through the town's most popular web site, Rochdale Online."