The flats to leave
For demolition
“A lot of people seemed to take the offer of money straight away, it could pay for a lot.
“It is quieter now. I saw a light come on in that building (Town Mill), the other day, which was the first I’d seen in a while.”
On our second visit to the blocks I bumped into active Save College Bank campaigners Roy Kitcher and Christina Hartley, who live on Tentercroft’s eight floor.
They regularly knock on all the doors they can across the Seven Sisters to keep residents updated on the progress of their campaign.
They tell the distressing story of a resident who is a private tenant in one of the under threat blocks who faces eviction and homelessness as his landlord has accepted payment from RBH to move.
They are supporting the resident in fighting this, concerned that RBH are pressing ahead with plans to move residents out despite the council being in the process of producing reports; one exploring the possibility of bringing the Seven Sisters back under local authority ownership, and a second that will look into building council houses in the borough for the first time in 20 years.
Chair of the College Bank Support Group, Mark Slater, a resident of
Mardyke, which is not a condemned block, said the reopening of the Housing Revenue Account gave long term residents “hope”.
“This is people’s forever home, some people have been here since they were first built, people over 90 years old,” he said.
“Where else are you going to move people to in the town centre?
“People get everything they need living here.
“People have built lives and their support networks here, we didn’t expect the amount of response and community support we ended up receiving.
“This is a battle for the whole of Rochdale, not just the community.
“There are 22,000 people on waiting lists for homes in the whole borough but there are at least 350 empty flats here.
“Why have people in temporary housing when there are good flats here?
“People have had no idea what’s going on for years since it was initially announced, it’s been in a state of managed decline.”
Ben Clay, a member of the Greater Manchester Tenants Union, who supports Mark with the campaign to Save College Bank, echoed these sentiments.
“These blocks are a landmark, you can see it from everywhere.
“It’s part of the fabric of the community, you always find that talking to people here,” he said.
“All architects and similar people we’ve spoken to say they are very good for high rise buildings.
“They would lose nearly 500 homes if they knocked down these blocks, it’s something the community can’t support.”
Mark added: “We want honest and open decision making.
“The council moving forward with what they are doing gives people hope.”
Councillor Danny Meredith, whose motion together with former councillor Sultan Ali - was key to reopening the HRA account and creating the chance of bringing the blocks back under council control, said: “You can’t be knocking down 400 flats in a housing crisis with 22,000 on the waiting lists for homes.
“We’ve commissioned two reports about bringing them back under council control which will take in a lot of factors.
“The reason they are in the state they are in now is due to managed decline.
“They should be trying to do the best for the community.”
Coun Meredith said it would be another 6 to 12 months before the reports are finished into whether they could come back under council control.
In a statement, an RBH spokesman said: “Our team are providing tailored professional support to all residents in the four blocks scheduled for demolition.
“Mitchell Hey is now 91% empty (109 out of 120) and Town Mill Brow is 73% empty (88 out of 120).
“We have not yet started to proactively rehouse residents in the other two blocks (Tentercroft and Dunkirk Rise); however, support for rehousing is available to residents in those blocks who wish to access it.
“Our project to remodel and refurbish the Underwood block is underway, with an estimated investment of over £12m.
“The block will be completely transformed inside and out to create the quality of homes that our tenants and residents expect.
“Residents within the block are part of the steering group working to develop these plans.
“In addition to this, we are currently investing around £20m across all seven blocks on improvement works.
“This includes fire and evacuation alarms and upgraded doors.
“We have a dedicated Neighbourhood Environment Team who carry out cleaning and environmental management in
College Bank, as well as our Community Guardians who provide a visible and reassuring presence in the neighbourhood.
Our repairs team continue to carry out any day-today repairs in College Bank.
“If residents have any issues that they would like to draw to our attention, please contact us and we’ll make sure that it gets sorted.”