Town gets bad press, but there are nice things too
People see positive future despite problems
ON a grey and rainy November afternoon in Rochdale town centre, a group of college students push each other down the high street in an abandoned shopping trolley.
Nobody tries to stop them, or even looks twice.
Residents here say behaviour like this has become typical on the town’s main shopping streets. After a gang of youths were detained for launching fireworks in the town centre last month, some in Rochdale say antisocial behaviour is on the rise - but feel it is at odds with the ‘positive’ changes happening across the borough.
“It speaks for itself really,” one woman out shopping with her husband said, gesturing at the group of teens in the trolley. “I think a lot of the young people here struggle because it is so expensive to do anything these days.
“When we were young we could go to the pictures in the morning and swimming in the afternoon for pennies out of our pockets. You can’t do that now.”
She claims she had noticed an increase in shoplifting over the last few years, but that she thought the antisocial behaviour in the area was largely confined to Yorkshire Street, not the areas which have recently enjoyed greater investment.
“It’s a shame because there’s so much investment going on at the same time,” she added. “When the town hall reopens it’s going to be an amazing space. People will enjoy it, especially at Christmas and Halloween and those kinds of events. It’ll be absolutely packed.”
She said she thought shoplifting was an issue in the area, but that she had seen it more around the retail parks than the town centre.
“Rochdale gets a lot of bad press, and I’m not saying it doesn’t deserve some of it,” she said. “But there are lots of nice things about Rochdale, too. There are lots of nice wine bars and it’s lovely up by the lake.”
Another elderly couple said their grandson doesn’t come into the town centre at night anymore after a window was smashed in while he was drinking in a pub.
“Rochdale was fantastic years ago,” they said. “But I don’t think I would come into town at night now.
“The town isn’t what it used to be. We only ever come in to go to the bank, we try to avoid coming in.
“Our grandson was here when someone threw something through a pub window.
“Now we know he doesn’t come here anymore.
Dianne, 66, said she thought antisocial behaviour was not a new problem for Rochdale.
“It has always been like this,” she said. “I do think it is getting worse. But it has always gone on.”
Two men on their lunch break said they thought an increase in charities and outreach work in the town centre meant antisocial behaviour was getting better.
“It’s sad though,” one said. “Now you see people using food banks and soup kitchens. It shouldn’t be like that. There should be enough food to go round.”
Another woman said she had seen the gang of 30-40 youths setting fireworks off in the town centre last month, and described the incident as ‘dangerous’.
“Shops need to be more careful about who they sell fireworks to and making sure customers are over 18, because it is very dangerous,” she said. “You see them being set off here and it’s frightening for people - old people or people with disabilities.”
Rochdale Council declined to comment.