More grants for Moorlands businesses affected by the restrictions in force to control the spread of Covid have now opened for applications.

The Government has provided funding to Staffordshire Moorlands District Council for both mandatory and discretionary grants to support businesses affected by the second national lockdown from 5 November to 2 December and the tier systems in place on either side of that period.

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Picking up Christmas gifts and goodies will be top of many of our ‘to do’ lists as shops and businesses across the Moorlands re-open – and the Council is offering free parking on Saturdays this month to help make that a little easier.

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council offers five days free parking a year in its off-street car parks and the Town Councils in Biddulph, Cheadle and Leek decide when they want to use them to support events and key activities in the towns.

Cheadle and Leek Town Councils have decided, once again, to use some of these days in the build-up to Christmas and parking will be free on Saturdays 5, 12 and 19 December this year. Drivers won’t need to display a ticket on these dates.

Biddulph Town Council hasn’t yet confirmed when it plans to use the free days.

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Cheshire East Council is urging residents to shop in their local town in the lead up to Christmas, whilst of course wearing a face mask and maintaining social distancing.

Supporting local trade is vital now more than ever and there are many benefits of shopping local, helping businesses to survive Covid-19 too. Small businesses know their customers and can offer a more personal service for Christmas – they would really appreciate your support during an unprecedented year.  

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Exciting development plans for Kidsgrove that could significantly improve the quality of life for its communities for decades to come have moved forward for approval.  

This comes after the government invited 100 places to develop proposals for a Town Deal as a part of a £3.6 billion Towns Fund, and both Newcastle and Kidsgrove were included in the list.

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2020 will be remembered for many reasons. One of the more positive ones should be – the year that as a community we have finally seen work begin on refurbishing Kidsgrove Sports Centre.

If all is going to plan at this time of reading, contractors Willmott Dixon (appointed by NBC, under the SCAPE framework), will be busy inside the sports centre stripping out the building. The plan is very much to have a completely refurbished building which will be more modern and efficient to operate, whilst retaining much of the original character of the building.

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Building works

Network Rail has informed the North Staffs Community Rail Partnership that works to support the Ground Remediation project at the station have commenced and piping systems to transport grout between platform areas have been installed. Drilling will commence in Dec/Jan. The grout will then be piped underground to stabilise the ground so that it can take the weight of the new passenger bridge and lifts.  At time of writing it is not envisioned that either winter temperatures or Covid-19 restrictions will cause further delays.

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The King’s CE (A) School are delighted to have secured the funding to redevelop outdoor sports facilities on the campus in Kidsgrove worth in excess of £400,000. 

The project which is scheduled to begin on site in December will see the refurbishment of the current synthetic turf pitch and adjacent tarmac courts to create brand new 3G pitches and refurbished tennis courts and netball courts.

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The Local Plan – the District’s key planning document which will shape development in the Staffordshire Moorlands up to 2033 – has been formally adopted by the Council.

The Plan allocates land for new housing, employment and other uses and protects important assets such as green belts and conservation areas as well as setting the policies which will be used to determine planning applications.

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Lockdown 2 has meant the return to tougher restrictions on our social lives and many shops, hospitality and sports and leisure facilities across the Moorlands being forced to close to help bring the Covid infection rate down.

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council is urging people to use this time to stick to the rules and make a real difference to the number of cases so that we can all start to return to doing the things we love when restrictions ease. The enhanced cleaning and other safety measures the Council implemented after the first lockdown have meant that many of the things that had to close earlier in year can stay open this time around.

Traders selling essential items such as food and drink products, face coverings and hardware can continue to operate, leisure centres and swimming pools are closed and football matches on Council pitches are suspended. Playgrounds remain open but events in parks involving more than two people cannot take place.