'When it was sunny we'd and joking – now everyone of rundown estate set for

An estate that’s just a stone's throw from Rochdale town centre was once a thriving community. Now, a tumbleweed rolling through the empty blocks of flats wouldn't be out of place.

- BY GEORGE LYTHGOE

Lower Falinge - named the most deprived area in England for the fifth successive year back in 2013 - now has a huge proportion of flats vacant.

But the plan to regenerate the area from Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) has been met with a mixed response.

RBH says demolition of the blocks Ollerton, Newstead, Romsey, Quinton, Ullesthorpe, and Vaynor was the only affordable option.

Many of the flats haven't been lived in for years, and you can tell. The blocks in line to be flattened look shabby.

RBH say the 1970s buildings are no longer fit for purpose and have lived way beyond their lifespan.

However, there are some Lower Falinge residents who feel refurbishing the old flats was doable. Christine Page said they sorted the damp and mould issues in the Pershore block where she lives, so wonders why RBH couldn't do that with the others.

“I don’t know why they can’t just do them up rather than demolish them,’ she told the Observer.

“Some of them already have new windows and doors.

“There are around 24,000 people on the housing waiting list in Rochdale and those flats are sitting empty.

“I used to know people who lived there. It's a lot quieter now, so we want that community back really.

“My other worry is that there have been some demolished blocks that still haven’t been built on. So could this be the same?”

As you walk eastwards from where the doomed blocks sit you see a plethora of new housing and a playpark before you hit another set of 1970s blocks on the other side of the estate.

'I think they can all go down,' one man shouts as he hurries off to work.

Another local, passing by on his way to the allotment, adds: “I think it’s time they go because they've been getting a bit worn.”