Plans to reopen part of Kidsgrove sports centre under a community management model have taken another positive step forward.

The Council’s Cabinet have agreed to make a one-off capital contribution of £300,000 towards a significant refurbishment programme that includes improvements to dated “dry side” facilities at the sports centre.

The Borough Council and Staffordshire County Council are working with Kidsgrove Sports Centre Community Group, a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), to develop viable proposals for volunteers to reopen the sports centre. Both councils signed a Memorandum of Understanding in February this year agreeing to work together to support the group in their goal until aspirations to replace the building with a new leisure centre in the long-term are achieved.

The draft refurbishment plans, involving an initial budget of £700,000, feature improvements to the reception, gym, aerobics studio, changing rooms and a new sports hall roof. The sports centre, managed by the borough council, closed in June 2017 when the joint use agreement for its management came to an end. [Read more…]

Following a review of the current recycling services the council are considering implementing a new twin stream service for kerbside recycling, and to bring in charges for garden waste.

A public consultation was carried out by the Borough Council following a series of issues and problems including large numbers of missed collections. It revealed that 58 per cent were not happy with the current service. Most who responded are happy with the frequency of collections but least satisfied with the type and range of containers. There was also a preference to use wheelie bins for recycling. [Read more…]

Plans to reopen part of Kidsgrove sports centre under a community management model could take another positive step forward.

The Council’s Cabinet is considering making a one-off capital contribution of £300,000 towards a significant refurbishment programme that includes improvements to dated “dry side” facilities.

The Borough Council and Staffordshire County Council are working with Kidsgrove Sports Centre Community Group, a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), to develop viable proposals for volunteers to reopen the sports centre. Both councils signed a Memorandum of Understanding in February this year agreeing to work together to support the group in their goal until aspirations to replace the building with a new leisure centre in the long-term are achieved. [Read more…]

103961220 – illegal landfill in town

This follows a trial this year in the town centre and Wolstanton where the Council’s Streetscene team cleared fly tipped waste from private rear alleyways. Signs were then put up warning people that the area was being monitored and prosecution of offenders would be pursued.

Changes were announced by the Government last year giving councils the power to issue people caught in the act of fly-tipping with fixed penalty notices of up to £400. This was to save councils time, enabling them to punish offenders on the spot without having to go through the rigmarole of the current court procedure.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) have reported that there has been an overall rise in incidents of fly tipping nationally. Newcastle-under-Lyme saw the third biggest percentage increase between 2015-16 and 2016-17, with incidents rising by 225 per cent. [Read more…]

Public consultation was carried out by the Borough Council following a series of issues and problems including large numbers of missed collections.

The council now say that changes will be made to the unpopular recycling service after nearly six out of 10 people surveyed said they were unhappy with how it was working.

The survey received comments from almost 1,300 people – the highest number of respondents to any of the Council’s online consultations. A total of 1,269 people [Read more…]

This August please come along to Kidsgrove Town Hall and enjoy two films with your family.

Sherlock Gnomes (U): When Gnomeo and Juliet first arrive in the city with their friends and family, their biggest concern is getting their new garden ready for spring. However, they soon discover that someone is kidnapping garden gnomes all over London. When Gnomeo and Juliet return home to find that everyone in their garden is missing there’s only one gnome to call Sherlock Gnomes. The famous detective and sworn protector of London’s garden gnomes arrives with his sidekick Watson to investigate the case. The mystery will lead our gnomes on a rollicking adventure where they will meet all new ornaments and explore an undiscovered side of the city.

Show Dogs (PG) is a family comedy about [Read more…]

Lidl Store

Lidl UK has announced proposals to bring a new store to Kidsgrove, on land just off Liverpool Road.

The plans would see the site currently used by Kidsgrove Working Men’s Club, and also home to The Canal Tavern, redeveloped into a new Lidl supermarket. [Read more…]

It’s been an eventful experience over the past 9 months, trying to bring about the reopening of Kidsgrove Sports Centre. However, we can now say that it is planned the centre will reopen within the next 6 months!

Since the centre was closed by Newcastle Borough Council in June last year, we have faced numerous challenges. [Read more…]

The precept – the part of your council tax bill which goes to Kidsgrove Town Council – will rise by 88% for 2018.

The increase is to pay for a new Ranger Service and extra administrative staff which will bring spending to £228,177 per annum, up from £120,424 in 2017.

The Ranger Service will cost £42,500 and another £70,000 will go towards administration staff which may include staff being brought in from Crewe Town Council in the future. Currently the Town Clerk for Kidsgrove is shared with Crewe on an interim basis until September.