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Rowen welcomes bus station announcement.
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27/03/2008 at 16:32
Rochdale's Paul Rowen has spoken of his delight after the Government finally gave the green light to a new Bus Station in Rochdale. Transport Minister Rosie Winterton announced up to £10 million of Government support for a new £11.5 million bus station, developed by Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) and Rochdale Council.
Paul Rowen said, "Our new Bus Station is central to our plans to regenerate our Town and I have been lobbying the Department of Transport hard for some time to deliver this project. I spoke to Transport Minister Rose Winterton MP last week who confirmed that an announcement was imminent and I am pleased to see confirmation of that. Plans were drawn up for our new station when I was Council Leader in 2004 and I am pleased to see a successful conclusion to our campaign. The next step is obviously to get the Government to commit to funding the extension of Metrolink from our railway station to our Town Centre. Only then will we have the integrated transport system that has long been my ambition for Rochdale."
Council Leader Alan Taylor said, "This is a significant announcement and good news for every user of public transport in our Town. I would like to thank our MP Paul Rowen for his hard work on this. These are exciting times for our Town and with the multi-million pound regeneration of our Town Centre - this is another piece in our ambitious plans. Rochdale is on the way up and this announcement is confirmation of that." More...
"Get your priorities right" says Rochdale MP.
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25/03/2008 at 18:11
Paul Rowen, Lib Dem Work and Pension's Shadow Minister has written to energy company E.On to ask them to get 'their priorities right'. Paul has acted after uncovering that E.On spent £32 million sponsoring the FA Cup and only £4.4 million on helping its elderly customers. The figure of £4.4 million is derisory when you consider that in the last year alone the German firm made a profit of £777 Million.
The company became the 5th energy company to raise their prices in December. It raised the costs of its electricity and gas prices by 9.7 per cent and 15 per cent respectively.
Paul said, "There is something drastically wrong with the priorities of energy companies like EON (formerly Powergen) when they can spend £32 million sponsoring the FA Cup but only £4.4 million on helping its elderly customers. I am a football fan and not against sponsorship of the FA Cup. However prior to the budget the Government were threatening sanctions against energy companies if they did not reform social tariffs. The fact is the government have bottled it. More...
Paul Rowen launches new Rochdale Online web site
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20/03/2008 at 09:50
The Rochdale Online web site (www.rochdaleonline.co.uk) has been completely redeveloped - over 12 months work to design and develop a system that could seamlessly migrate tens of thousands of pages of information built up over ten years into a new database and a new site structure whilst simultaneously catering for lots of new and exciting functionality, and make it easy to add more features in the future, came to fruition on Saturday 15 March - and Rochdale MP Paul Rowen joined staff at the Rochdale Online office to officially press the button that began the process.
Paul Rowen said: "I was very pleased to officially launch this excellent, new look site. Over the last few years Rochdale Online has become a valuable resource for breaking news in Rochdale. When I am on holiday, I visit Rochdale Online to find out what is going on in my town. I hope that this new site will continue to keep people informed about what's going on in Rochdale. I look forward to continuing my Letter from Parliament and my Online Surgery. I would encourage everyone in Rochdale to sign up to the website that keeps us in the know!"
The site has a new look and feel, modern and sophisticated with a very easy to use navigation system. Built to the latest accessibility guidelines, taking into account the Disability Discrimination Act, the site is cross browser and cross platform compatible. An easy to use bespoke in house developed content management system sits in the background and is used not only by Rochdale Online staff, but also by thousands of site users, businesses, classifieds advertisers, forum users, etc., geographically spread and using all types of computers, and of course mobile devices, to access the site. More...
Rowen speaks out on benefit statistics!
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19/03/2008 at 23:11
Rochdale MP Paul Rowen has spoken out after an area in Rochdale hit the headlines. New figures have revealed that 820 out of 1,074 working-age adults in Falinge and College Bank are unemployed and claiming out-of-work benefits.
Paul Rowen said, "There is a direct link between morbidity rates and benefit claims. Successive Labour and Conservative Governments have used incapacity benefits as a means of masking unemployment figures. This is a deep rooted problem and it is clear that people need help and support to get back to work. As a Lib Dem Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions, I am currently lobbying for a change in the benefit's system to make it more attractive for people to work and receive positive help and support to get back to work. I am keen to ensure that local people take advantage of opportunities like Kingsway Business Park to find work. These headlines are not helpful though and it is only by tackling the problems I have identified that we can make a difference."
But efforts are being made to transform life in Falinge, a Liberal Democrat heartland that is still home to legendary former MP Sir Cyril Smith, now 79, who has campaigned tirelessly to improve the run-down area. More...