We are committed to maintain and develop an attractive environment for visitors, resident’s and people working in the town centre.
The BID has delivered the following initiatives:
Bailie Street Quarter. Rochdale town centre’s haven of independent shops has received a new identity as the Baillie Street Quarter. A historic street with several Grade-II listed buildings, Baillie Street is home to a variety of independent shops, bars and restaurants, plus several ginnels including Bull Brow, The Butts Avenue and The Bank steps..
The BID Team has been carrying out a variety of improvements along Baillie Street to complement the council’s public realm improvement works within The Butts Avenue
The improvement works include: installing branded signage, additional artwork, cleaning street cabinets; installing hanging baskets and planters; jet washing shops, doorways and door entrances; painting doorways; removing disused signs; and relocating commercial bins to a less prominent location.
Dave Draws. Dave Draws is an artist specialising in black and white doodle map murals of different towns and cities. For these Dave picks landmarks from each place and illustrates them before surrounding them with roads and his trademark doodle patterns. Dave Draws was commissioned by the BID to create a map mural of the Baillie Street Quarter which illustrates its particular landmarks. The artwork is displayed along Baillie Street.
St Marys Quarter. Following the success of the Baillie Street Quarter, the BID team has commenced with the transformation of the area around Cheetham Street. Initial work has been the development of branded signage, together with the introduction of news planters and planting.
Perception review. The BID has recently teamed up with Storecheckers who have undertaken a perception review of the town centre. The review gathered feedback based on “snapshot” reviews of targeted streets, or walks within the town centre covering key aspects such as litter, safety, signage, street and footpath condition. The perception provides suitable evidence for the BID to work with stakeholders to plan and implement schemes which improve the visitor experience.
Jubilee Post Box. Over 300 children took the opportunity the to post their letters to the Queen using the BIDs special jubilee post box at Riverside. The BID posted all the letters onto her Majesty who kindly replied with a letter of thanks.
Christmas post box. Once again Santa’s postbox magically appeared in Rochdale Town Centre! 100s of children take the opportunity to post their letters to Santa using the special interactive post box which is installed at Riverside.
This year the BID submitted its own In Bloom entry for the Baillie Street Quarter. The In Bloom judges visited the area, and they were immediately captivated by the vibrant and colourful floral displays which are funded and maintained by the BID. This awards ceremony is due to take place this October.
Feedback from businesses stresses the importance of ensuring streets are clean and tidy. The BID continues to enhance streets with additional and targeted cleaning and street art.
The BID is delighted to support the Common Walls Mural Festival. Eye-catching murals that tell the story of Rochdale, its history, people and culture can be seem across the town centre.
Broadfield Community Primary School have been busy this summer by supporting the BID by growing summer flowers and planting them throughout the Baillie Street Quarter. The green fingered young children have helped to ensure the Baillie Street Quarter is bursting with colour this summer while learning about biodiversity in the process.
Additional planting. The BID has now installed over 100 hanging baskets and planters in the town centre. Both the baskets and planters are stocked with flowers all year round.
The outdoor gallery ‘Hidden Heritage Stories’ continues to expand. It features 21 individual panels that share stories about key buildings throughout Rochdale Town Centre’s history.From tales about the Fire Engine Station and Broadfield Park to stories of the river’s historical medieval bridge and Circus of Varieties, visitors and residents can discover more about the Town Centre’s fascinating buildings and landmarks.
