Gully scheme on track as 10,000 cleaned

12.00.00am GMT Thu 24th Jul 2008

Rochdale Council's ground-breaking scheme to have every gully in the town cleaned within the year is right on track.

At the last night's Rochdale Council meeting (Wednesday 23 July) it was confirmed that the 10,000th gully had been cleaned after Heywood North Councillor Peter Rush asked for an update on the scheme from Portfolio Holder for Finance Greg Couzens.

The scheme, that was part of the Council's spending proposals in April, aims to see every gully cleaned across Rochdale by April next year.

Finance Spokesman Councillor Greg Couzens said: "I am delighted to report that the 10,000th gully has been cleaned and our cleaning scheme is well on track. We are currently cleaning the gullies in Wardle and West Littleborough and will be moving onto Heywood North on 16 August. If any residents have any gullies that they wish to prioritise for cleaning or would like to know when their area is due to be cleaned then please contact the council for more information."

Rochdale MP Paul Rowen said: "This is a case of the Liberal Democrats keeping their promises. Areas of Rochdale like Calder Avenue in Littleborough have suffered severe flooding in the past and cleaning all our gullies will certainly help. This is the first time this Council have ever undertaken such a huge task and it's very welcome."

Councillor Peter Rush said: "I've had many local residents contacting me about the condition of our gullies over the last few months. Flooding has been the main cause for concern, especially with the amount of rainfall that we have experienced this year. I am delighted to here from my Lib Dem colleague that work is well under way and we have managed to clean over a quarter of our borough's gullies already."