Hollywood star 'ready for a fight' as volunteers 'locked out' of listed Hopwood Hall

An army of volunteers supporting a Hollywood actor say they are "appalled" after being "locked out" of a 600-year-old landmark.

The volunteers say they have been blocked from entering Hopwood Hall in Middleton, Rochdale, which they have been trying to restore for almost a decade.

Hollywood actor Hopwood DePree had an exclusivity agreement to buy and restore the hall but Rochdale Council decided not to renew it.

The Council claimed that DePree could not develop a viable business plan to redevelop the Grade-II listed building.

The authority argued that the reason volunteers were not allowed into the hall was due to health and safety breaches.

Hundreds of locals went to Smalley Memorial Hall for a public meeting to express concerns about the situation.

Volunteer Boyd Taylor told the crowd: “I want to express my personal feelings about the initiator of this effort – Hopwood DePree – whom I now consider a good friend.

"How many people would be willing to up sticks and relocate to a foreign country to undertake such a momentous task as he has done?

"Now they [the council] have disgustingly pulled the rug from under him and want to take over themselves. We are all appalled.”

Hopwood DePree attended the meeting, and said he was "devastated" by the council’s decision not to renew their exclusivity agreement after years of hard work on the project.

He said: “We are ready for a fight. I feel confident and inspired. We will rise up and we will get to where we need to be.”

Rochdale Council says it wants to continue to work with the volunteers at Hopwood Hall and it has started a feasibility study to look into how the hall can be used in the future.

Leader of the council, Councillor Neil Emmott, said: “Hopwood Hall is a local historic asset which means a great deal to the people of Middleton and indeed the wider borough.

"Something as important as this is about much more than one person, however well-intentioned they may be.

"Public assets are owned by our residents and we cannot allow them to transfer to a private individual without a great deal of care.

"Mr DePree was asked to meet a number of conditions when we entered into our agreement with him.

“We would be failing in our duty to protect our historic assets if we didn’t hold Mr DePree to the terms of this agreement.

"We know that many local residents have put their heart and soul into Hopwood Hall’s restoration as volunteers on the project.

"We’re very clear that we will continue to involve those volunteers and the wider community in any future plans.”

Want more on the issues affecting the North? Our podcast, From the North answers the questions that matter to our region.