Simon Danczuk MP

Fighting for Rochdale, Littleborough and Milnrow

Rochdale’s community spirit could be better used to help the town weather the recession and stop the decline of its main shopping area. That’s the view of the Communities Minister, Hazel Blears MP, after she paid a visit to the town hit hardest by the recession in Greater Manchester.

Invited to a town centre summit by Rochdale’s Labour Parliamentary Candidate, Simon Danczuk, Mrs Blears took the opportunity to walk round Rochdale’s town centre and see for herself how the recession had left its mark on the high street. With a third of shops standing empty, she said that if the council was prepared to “roll their sleeves up and get stuck in”, new powers that allowed local authorities to temporarily convert empty shops into social enterprises could help reduce the negative impact and put the community firmly at the heart of the town centre.

“The co-operative movement is a major part of Rochdale’s heritage so there is a real opportunity to embed these values in the town centre by letting social entrepreneurs temporarily lease empty shops,” she said. “We need to be prepared to give creative people a chance because when the recession moves on it’s the places which have kept their creative people that will be in the best position to benefit from the upturn.”

She urged the council to take advantage of the Government’s £1billion Future Jobs Fund, which is committed to funding the creation of at least 15,000 social enterprise jobs.

Rochdale’s Labour Parliamentary Candidate, Simon Danczuk, backed her call to support social entrepreneurs locally but added that the council clearly didn’t see this as a priority. “There are lots of frustrated social entrepreneurs in Rochdale who feel the council don’t give them enough support,” he said. “The fact that the council has recently cut funding for a social enterprise support post speaks volumes. We need to reclaim our heritage and now is the time that we should be bidding for our share of the Future Jobs Fund to create a new generation of social entrepreneurs in Rochdale.”

Taking questions from local traders and social entrepreneurs, Mrs Blears praised Tracie Bowers from Spotlight on Falinge who is building a local community hub and supporting new businesses in an area that has high levels of unemployment.

She also expressed support for Simon Danczuk’s campaign for two hours of free car parking at any time in the town centre. “Lots of local authorities have used car parking as an income stream,” she explained. “When the economy is strong this is acceptable but when it’s not doing so well it can actually cause more damage.”

Referring to how local authorities and organisations were imaginatively fighting the recession, she said some were swiftly moving to convert empty shops to farmers markets, NHS advice clinics and police and community centres. And with money in short supply the recession had also seen the growth of time banks across the country, which sees people exchange skills instead of money. “This is a fantastic community resource,” she explained. “You might see a violinist giving violin lessons in exchange for gardening, for example. There are now a handful of time banks in Manchester and I’d like to see more.”

Commenting after the minister’s visit, Simon Danczuk said Mrs Blears’ energy, enthusiasm and wealth of ideas had resonated with traders and members of the public alike. “Whether she’s passionately arguing how every local authority pound spent locally helps the community much more than services sourced elsewhere or giving countless examples of how councils are working with community groups to get through the recession, Hazel always leaves people with a sense of local Government being a powerful force for good. I am convinced that Rochdale Council can do more to support our local traders and harness our community spirit to create a better town. I will be passing some of the Minister’s ideas on to our council leaders and encouraging them to put in a bid to the Future Jobs Fund as quickly as possible.”