Has anyone been to Heywood?
COUNCIL SLAMMED FOR LEAVING TOWN OUT OF PROMOTIONAL VIDEO FOR BOROUGH
ROCHDALE Council has been criticised for publicising a promotional video about the borough which doesn’t feature Heywood.
The film, which features clips of places to visit around the borough, such as Rochdale town hall, the Pioneers museum and the Edgar Wood trail in Middleton, was shared on the council’s official Facebook page.
But while Rochdale, Middleton and Pennine villages such as Wardle are all featured in the promotional film, Heywood - which is home to 28,000 people – is not included.
And although the East Lancashire Railway, which runs through Heywood, gets a mention - eagleeyed viewers have noticed that the clip used shows a train travelling through Bury. The council says the film is meant to offer a ‘short snapshot’ of what’s on offer, and that it couldn’t include everything.
But the omission has angered those living and working in the town, who say that events such as the popular 1940s day, or the town’s awardwinning parks, should have been included. The film was first shown earlier this year, but has now sparked a debate after being shared again on the council’s social media platforms.
Mike Goldrick, vice chairman of Heywood Business Group, said: “I’m disgusted. I don’t know who made the video, if it’s an outside firm, but someone will have approved that video and someone should have known that Heywood should have been included.
“I’m flabbergasted. The 1940s day must be the biggest day in the borough. Queen’s Park was voted one of the top ten best parks in the country and it doesn’t even get a mention The memorial gardens are fantastic, and there’s nothing about them.
“There’s a lot of community events, Darnhill Festival for example. St Luke’s Church has just been done up, that wasn’t mentioned. Hopwood Park just got a green flag, we could go on and on. “
The film was also criticised on social media, with one poster writing: “Someone has made an absolute shambles of this and it needs pulling, re-editing to include at least one mention of Heywood.”
A council spokeswoman said: “The video is a short snapshot of what is on offer for tourists and we cannot possibly cover everything. We have included Heywood with the East Lancashire Railway. The video is only one part of our promotion of the borough, we have our Great Days Out brochure and the Visit Rochdale website, both of which see Heywood feature. We also do a lot of work separately to promote the wonderful parks and events all across the borough. We welcome the feedback on the video and as we keep evolving our promotion of the borough.”