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NO benefit ... GMTV’s Jonathan Swain reported live from Falinge
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The nation wakes up to Falinge
9/ 5/2008
FALINGE residents have hit back after Rochdale was portrayed as one of the toughest and bleakest places to live in the UK.
GMTV’s Jonathan Swain reported live from Spotland Road on Thursday morning when he investigated why 76.4 per cent of the local population are claiming benefits.
He revealed that he was verbally abused and told to leave the estate as he filmed a piece in the area, dubbed by the national media as ‘the scrounging capital of the UK’.
Mr Swain spent several days on the estate trying to investigate what life is really like for residents.
He described Falinge as ‘not the kind of place you’d happily wander around’.
In his blog he wrote that he felt confident he’d be able to handle a visit to the estate after experiencing Baghdad and Afghanistan.
In March, figures showed that Falinge and College Bank has the highest concentration of claimants in the country, provoking fierce reaction in the national media.
Now it’s back in the spotlight and residents have leapt to its defence.
Andrew Kearney, chairman of College Bank Tenants’ and Residents’ Association, said the GMTV programme ignored many positive aspects.
He said: "It certainly didn’t represent everyone in the north Falinge area. Many people are hard working and are happy to live here.
"Many people were disappointed and upset that we are persistently being portrayed by the national media as scroungers. The reality is that it’s a great place to live.
"A small minority of people cause problems, but that happens on any town centre estate.
"Why come if they’re only going to portray it as a really awful place to live?
"It’s not as bleak as that, but I’m glad that GMTV recognised that a lot of decent people live here. I can’t think of a single burglary since I moved here in 1994.
"There’s quite a good community spirit and the majority of people look out for each other."
MP Paul Rowen, who had been due to appear live on GMTV on Friday, said he was disappointed the programme didn’t focus on the improvements being made in the area.
He said: "I’m disappointed that the piece wasn’t as positive as it could have been."
Andy Zuntz, Executive Director of Rochdale Council, said: "Reducing deprivation isn’t something we can do overnight.
"There is a lot of hard work going on to make the quality of life better for people in Central and Falinge as well as across the rest of the borough."
In Saturday's Observer - read what estate residents, the council and the town's MP had to say about GMTV's report, and we illustrate just some of the many reasons why we should be proud of Rochdale.
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Mr R. Poole, Oakenrod
15/05/2008 at 23:29
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