The council has quashed rumours that a new apartment complex currently under construction in the town centre will be used to house asylum seekers.
The Upperbanks development is currently in its second phase that has already brought the Rochdale Riverside retail and leisure complex to the town centre. According to one small business owner, rumours are rife within the town that the 242 new apartments currently being built will become homes for refugees and the town will become ‘overrun’.
Austin Hopley, who owns Vinesteins on The Walk, believes that people trying to talk down the £50 million town centre regeneration are making it impossible to run a small business.
