Syke Community Base - staff redundancies

At the end of January Rochdale Online reported that Syke Community Base, faced with closure due to the withdrawal of funding by the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP), had been given a temporary reprieve due to the Council allocating £20,000 from the budget pressures fund. However, despite this, and with little time to secure alternative funding, the Base has no choice but to make all paid staff redundant on 31 March, and that will result in the end of all youth services.

Rochdale Online contacted Councillor Elwyn Watkins, usually a vociferous supporter of the Base, for his reaction to the news; however, very surprisingly Councillor Watkins refused to comment. Further investigation has revealed that Councillor Watkins is being gagged! A trusted source who wishes to remain anonymous has revealed a condition of considering a £30,000 grant to the Base, that Councillor Watkins makes no comment!

Rochdale Online’s Malcolm Journeaux paid a visit to the Base to see for himself the excellent work done there and his view is it would be "criminal" to allow what is a shining example to disappear. He said: "I had been told just how central to the community the Base has become and what an excellent resource it is for all ages, and not just from the local area of Syke, but also for the many who attend from all over the borough. Having seen this for myself, I simply cannot understand why money cannot be found to allow this very successful project to continue."

Mr Journeaux also added stinging criticism of the gagging of Councillor Watkins, he said: "Councillors are the people's champions and to effectively blackmail a councillor into silence is a disgrace and an affront to democracy."

Date article online: 24/03/2008