The new 'golden road' is at Kingsway Business Park - "A new landscape for business" - hundreds of acres of empty muddy fields and tumbleweed.
Yet there has been even more spin from the multi-million pound turd polishers.
They are gushing about the 8th Wonder of the World- a one kilometre road in an empty muddy field that has, according to the RDA's own press release, cost TEN MILLION POUNDS. That's a lot of money down the pan.
Ten thousand pounds per running metre? £10,000?! Solid gold bricks would have been cheaper.
Why the media fanfare? The road has been built but closed off for over a year. Apart from the odd traveller caravan the empty gilded tarmac has little chance of wearing out for a while.
Rochdale's current MP Paul Rowen loves to take credit for the "exciting" regeneration of Rochdale. In happier days he posed for photos on another Kingsway yellow brick road.
Now the wheels seem to have fallen off the vain and grossly expensive scheme. Is Paul clicking his heels and wishing he was in Kansas?
"Always the bridesmaid but never the bride" was the picture painted of Rochdale by the regeneration press. Kingsway Business Park was pitched as our town's hope of happiness. There have been a few small suitors who have been offered sizeable dowries but time and time again, the £350,000,000 Kingsway project has been jilted rather than taken up the aisle.
The expensive excuses are starting to wear very thin and the spin is leaving people dizzy.
Back in Dodge, the Rochdale Observer have reported that the muddy field of dreams has to go back to the drawing board with a renewal of the planning permission for another 10 years.
According to its last accounts, Rochdale Development (sic) Agency spent over £1,600,000 justifying its own existence last year. Its senior officers are on very high salaries (obviously not performance related).
Rochdale Development Agencies little offshoot Pennine Land has been busy helping "facilitate" the £60,000,000 PFI "Yelloway House" office block.
At a time when savage budget cuts threaten Rochdale Council's Adult Care Service, the weakest and most vulnerable citizens of our town face an uncertain future.
Whereas the future looks bright for the gold-plated salaries and pension plans of Rochdale's failing but gold-plated turd polishers.
Rochdale deserves better than this.
18 comments:
The fancy websites promotes Kingsway as a creator of quality ,high-end, sustainable jobs:
Vindon is quoted ad infinitum:
“Kingsway Business Park is ideal for the pharmaceutical sector. We have a modern building within a fantastic skills catchment area.”
So why has Rochdale Online reported that the hugely expensive showcase Vindon building in Kingsway is being used for storing old reels of film o pallets?
http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/1/business-news/29819/profits-shrink-for-kingsways-vindon
What have the RDA been doing with our money for the past unlucky 13 years?
In the year since even more executive appointments (Glyn Pittendreigh and Keiron O'Neill) what the hell has John Hudson and Phil Ewbank been doing for their huge salaries?
And of course the magic touch of senior RDA board member £140,000 a year Chief Exec Roger Ellis.
All that banner advertising on Rochdale Online has done Kingsway Business Park a lot of good.
Not.
Rochdale taxpayers pay for that crap too.
For well over a year there has been some pretty unprofessional leaking about JJB Sports taking a key tenancy at Kingsway Business Park.
Every time awkward questionas are asked about the development's failure, the old "advanced negotiations with JJB" is dusted down.
Is such speculation helping the troubled JJB Sports business? Financial results just published don't look good. Has some of the Kingsway magic rubbed off?
Will there be a public audit of the ever more desperate deals that are being offered to fill any plots on the site?
It is taxpayer's money and there is a duty to ensure it is value for money and within the Competition Act rules.
Exsiting Rochdale businesses have been neglected whilst disgusting amounts of cash and energy have been wasted on this failing vanity project whose sole raison d'etre is to justify the very existence of the Rochdale Development Agency.
Many existing businesses are now starting to think the unthinkable -scrap the RDA.
all those muddy fields and solitude is great for wildlife - especially birds.
No birds have been spotted that lay golden eggs.
But "twitchers" have seen:
A couple of lesser Spotted Tits.
The odd Rough Coated Shag.
Also confirmed sightings of Great Unpaid Bills, Shitehawks and a huge Albatros.
One good tern deserves another.
RDA- out for a duck.
The only good road in Lancashire is the road to Yorkshire
"Kingsway yellow brick road"...
..."Is Paul clicking his heels and wishing he was in Kansas?"
are you suggesting that Mr Rowen Rochdale MP's agent and spin doctor Adam Power and Dave Hennigan are "Friends of Dorothy"?
Biggest white elephant after Cyril Spanker Smith in history!!
Dorothy being Paul Rowen.
I see Kingsway Business Park advertise on Rochdale Online. Taxpayers cash.
I also see that Oulder Hill School place advertisments on Rochdale Online. That is also money from the public purse going to a company whose founder, director and news editor is heavily invovled with very disturbing and exploitative pornographic and fetish photography.
As a concerned parent should local taxpayer's hard earned money be funding a company that is involved in such sickenng activity?
Google "MJX Photography" and view some of the disgusting images taken by Malcolm Journeaux and ask yourself if you are really comfortable with your daughter's school paying money to such an outfit?
http://www.net-model.com/Portfolios/ModelPortfolio.asp?UserID=110797&IID=987341
here is a link to another MJX photography image-
http://www.net-model.com/Portfolios/ModelPortfolio.asp?UserID=110797&IID=987345
a very young distressed girl, in a shower in wet scanty provocative underwear, mascara running and bloody nose, clutching an almost empty bottle of alcohol.
What sort of sick pervert takes such images and also takes advertising revenue from Oulder Hill school (children aged 11-16)?
Not only is Malcolm Journeaux's company receiving taxpayers cash for advertising from Oulder Hill School and Kingsway Business Park, Rochdale Online also receives advertising cash from another school closely linked to the RDA regeneration project- Kingsway School.
And the private schools of Rishworth and its prepatory junior school Heathfield.
Although there are close social links to Rochdale Online's Malcolm Journeaux and Beech House PTA Chairwoman Alison Unwin, what would other parents think about a advertising with a company whose majority owner meddles in fetish and pornographic photography of very young women.
What example is that setting the schools?
Even MJX's website has a montage of young women on it, some provactively posed and others possibly under 18 in RAF Cadet Uniform. Does that young woman photographed in her uniform, holding her RAF regimental colours really want to have next to her clearly identifiable image the words
"models required for fashion, lingerie and art nude photography..."
is it the same "Malcolm Journeaux" that writes soft-porn style write ups to encourage young women to have breast implants?
If it is the same Malcolm Journeaux from Rochdale Online then why does a 50 year old man involve himself in the confidence and self esteem issues of vulnerable young women for commercial gain?
What research did this Malcolm Journeaux do before writing his advertorial of young Jo Hicks and her expensive breast augmentation?
http://www.profilecosmeticsurgery.com/breast-augmentation-model-jo-hicks.php
Kevin Maguire is spot on as usual with his insights into the Lib Dems conference in Wednesday's Daily Mirror.
Points of disorder 1
A whale beached on Bournemouth sands reminded me of a blubbery Cyril Smith.
The one-time Rochdale MP is as washed up as the mammal after exposure of his cosiness with the asbestos industry.
Perhaps the poor creature (the whale not Un-Nice One Cyril, who is very much alive) died of boredom after hearing the debates.
Or maybe it got stranded while trying to reach the plankton in the hall.
Either way, the corpse attracted more local interest than the yellow peril who have swapped sandals for hair-shirts.
a very creepy looking Malcolm Journeaux is reported vainly on his own news website giving an "inspiring speech" to young children at Springhill High School in 2006:
"Guest speaker for the evening was the founder of Rochdale Online, Malcolm Journeaux, who gave an interesting and inspiring speech about Rochdale Online and his own personal fight against adversity and advised those listening to always "give their best and make the best of what they've got". A very attentive audience gave him a hearty cheer."
http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/3769/springhill-high-school-gcse-awards-evening
Such fawning crap would make a North Korean dictator blush. What goes on in the mind of such a weird character to make sure such self-praise is published?
Thank god there was no mention of his future festish porn-photography hobby career or ditching of local firm Lamourne Images to the young school children.
As Cllr Cricket's dad might say..."there's more".
Rochdale Observer has just broken the news that Rochdale Town centre £500,000,000 regeneration is so heated - only ONE company has bothered to show any interest.
Is it a consortium of bored teenage texters? "Regener8" ?
Alan Taylor told every household in the Borough that there was a frenzy of interest by loads of developers?
But back on planet Earth it emerges that only ONE company has formally bid for the contract.
(what hasn't been made public is the fact that senior Council officers want to change the rules to allow this farce to continue)
How can there be healthy value-for-money competition with only ONE bidder?
That is like only having one leg and entering the arse kicking contest.
Rochdale's aging soft-rock, soft-porn, bush meddling snapper is cock-a-hoop with the thought of bikini clad beauties entering the "Miss Rochdale" contest.
There was a forum posting at 0:41BST this morning on Rowen Online.
A Miss Rochdale contest. Its a forgone conclusion- The Rochdale Development Agency for Kingsway. More drivers "miss Rochdale" when going up the M62 than ever before!!!
Hudson and Ellis - phooar...What a pair of tits!
It seems you already have your torches and pitchforks. Witch hunt anyone?!
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