Alleyways bloom in Castleton and Rochdale

The winning entries in the 2014 Rochdale Borough Alleyways in Bloom competition have been announced.

A first prize of a £50 garden centre voucher went to Tony, Len and Stella of Hargreaves Street in Castleton, while Bernice and Sue of Edenfield Road in Rochdale picked up a £25 voucher.

The annual Alleyways in Bloom competition encourages residents to work together to transform run down or vandalised alleyways into something beautiful.

Entries throughout the borough have turned unwelcoming and dark alleyways into green and pleasant communal areas for all residents of the neighbourhood to enjoy.

Councillor Daalat Ali, Cabinet Member for Community, Culture and Tourism, said: “This is a fantastic competition and initiative, which challenges residents to be pro-active in making their environment a prettier, happier and safer place. I’d like to congratulate the winners and commend the other participants for their own efforts.”

The competition is held to help raise awareness of Rochdale Borough Council’s alley-gating scheme, which involves the installation of lockable steel gates to the end of back alley-ways and passages

Five-hundred alley-gates have been installed free of charge throughout the borough to the benefit of more than 10,000 properties.

Where alley-gates have been installed, crimes like burglary, theft and criminal damage have reduced by 17.7 per-cent and 89 per-cent of residents say they feel safer.

Alley-gating is also proven to help reduce instances of youth annoyance, violent crime, malicious fires, drug-related incidents and fly tipping.

Visit www.rochdale.gov.uk/housing to see if your area qualifies or for more information about alley-gating.