Council Chief Exec Visits Kirkholt (Rochdale Liberal Democrats)

Rochdale Liberal Democrats <info@rochdalelibdems.org.uk>

Council Chief Exec Visits Kirkholt

October 8, 2010 12:00 AM

Cheif Exec Roger Ellis Rochdale Council's Chief Executive Roger Ellis paid a visit to Kirkholt this week after he was invited by the three ward Councillors to see some of the positive work that is going on in the area.

Mr Ellis was firstly taken to the Rochdale Borough wide Housing's Drop In Centre on the Strand to look at the work currently being done on neighbourhood renewal, the different activities on offer for the community and to chat about some of the work associated with the pilots being undertaken currently around the welfare of the people who live on the estate.

He then went on to visit TRAK (Tenants and Residents Association Kirkholt) to have a chat with representatives of the Kirkholt community before moving onto the housing office on the Strand. Here he learnt more about the current plans to regenerate the estate under the 'Vision for Kirkholt' programme. Special focus was put on the developments now on site at Cumberland/Curzon Road and Romney Avenue, plans for the regeneration of the Strand shopping precint and the surrounding central belt of Kirkholt.

Finally the Chief Exec was taken for a walk over to look at the current demolition activity that has just begun at Cumberland and Curzon Road.

Ward Councillor Dale Mulgrew said: "This was a very positive visit and it is really important that the Chief executive received a sense of the issues that people face on the estate and what is currently being done to respond to these. In particular, the session with members of the community was a very constructive and involved conversation.

"But more importantly Mr Ellis was able to capture a good appreciation of the future regeneration plans for the estate. Through this visit he will now have a deeper awareness of the transformation plans, and he will now be able to put the case for Kirkholt across in a more informed and knowledgeable way when he continues his meetings with partner organisations."

Councillor Liz Thirsk said: "It was great to have the Chief Exec visiting our area and speaking to our community groups about the future hopes for Kirkholt. There are alot of positive steps being taken in our area at the moment and a lot of this is down to the excellent community groups we have."