Plans for new town square approved in Biddulph

Plans to create a more appealing public space in front of the town hall have been approved by Staffordshire Moorlands District Council.

The plans will see the removal of the railings and the space opened up lending the possibility for it to be used for socialising and small scale events. The towns heritage in the form of the old mining wheel will be kept.

Moorlands Community Lottery set to launch

Good causes across the Staffordshire Moorlands are set to benefit from the Community Lottery – an exciting new fundraising initiative being launched by the District Council.

Leading lottery management company, Gatherwell, has been appointed by the Council to run the scheme having already launched similar lotteries in other parts of the country.

When the lottery launches in July, people will be able to buy tickets online and choose the good cause they want support through their purchase. Tickets will cost £1 per week. There will be a weekly prize draw with a jackpot of £25,000 and prizes of £2,000, £250 and £25.

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Year of Reasons to Visit the Moorlands

Biddulph on the road to recovery

Biddulph will receive £800,000 to repair roads as part of the governments £30 million Capital Improvement programme.

Repairs will include the roundabouts on Meadows Way

In the Spring Budget the Chancellor committed to £4,456,400 to fix potholes in Staffordshire and Biddulph will be getting £800,000 of this. 

Councillor Nigel Yates said; “I can report that following an extensive period of fault logging and personal lobbying, including a question to full council at Stafford requesting that the ‘138’ potholes and damage to the surface of Meadows Way and the roundabouts at either end are repaired and resurfaced, that an £800,000 surface repair and treatment, including the reconstruction of these roundabouts was approved by Staffordshire County Cabinet on Wednesday 15th March.

This is part of a £30 million countywide Capital Improvement Program, and I am delighted that Biddulph has been included.

There is still much more to do with regards our road network, and I’m also pleased to report that a number of Town Centre roads – including Wharf Road and South View and the Mill Quarter will also be treated in the next financial year.”

Biddulph starts its own Repair Cafe

What do you do with a broken toaster? Or with a jumper full of moth holes? Bin it? No way! Social Connective CIC is organising the first Repair Café in Biddulph on Saturday 15th April 2023. As part of Community Hive, the Repair Cafe will be run alongside a space to enjoy a cake and a drink, and a small number of local traders to browse.

At Biddulph Town Hall, on Saturday 15th April everything centres on making repairs. Starting from 10am and ending at 2pm, various volunteer repair experts will be available to help make all possible repairs free of charge. Tools and materials will also be on hand. People visiting the Repair Café will bring along their broken items from home. Toasters, lamps, hair dryers, clothes, toys, crockery… anything that is broken is welcome. And we’ll do our best to repair the items. The Repair Café specialists almost always have the know-how.

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Funding secured for new Biddulph Moor games area

Funding for a new multi-use games area at Hot Lane in Biddulph Moor has been secured – meaning residents in one of the District’s more rural communities will have improved access to informal sport and recreation facilities on their doorstep.

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council has provided £35,000 from its Rural Sports Villages Capital Fund for the project with the remainder coming from the Premier League, the FA and the Government’s Football Foundation who have agreed funding of up to £52,000.

The new facility will feature a tarmacked area, surrounded by a perimeter fence, with goals and net hoops to enable the community use it for activities such as  recreational football, basketball and netball as well as exercise and general fun and games.

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£3.4m to help the Moorlands prosper

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council has welcomed the announcement that funding of up to £3.4m is set to be invested in increasing life chances for residents and helping to build pride in place.

UK Shared Prosperity Funding (UKSPF) of £416,133 has been confirmed for 2022/23 alongside indicative settlements up to March 2025 which would bring the total to £3,428,937.

The UKSPF is part of the national Levelling Up agenda and is based on three investment priorities:

  • Communities and place
  • Supporting local business
  • People and skills

A local UKSPF Board has been set up in the Moorlands to determine a delivery plan and agree timescales for areas of investment across the District. The Board will meet early in the New Year and more details will be made available following that meeting.

Councillor Keith Flunder, Cabinet Member with responsibility for regeneration and business support, said: “This is very welcome investment in our District – it’s great news for local businesses who want to grow and thrive and residents who feel they would benefit from opportunities to develop and improve their lives through work or learning new skills.

“We now need to ensure that this funding is spent in ways that empower them to make the most of their chances and to ensure the Moorlands remains a place that we can all be proud of living and working in.

“We’ve established a Board to make sure this funding is invested to best effect. It meets for the first time in the coming weeks and I look forward to being able to share more details of our plans in the New Year.”

The total amount the Moorlands will receive over the next three years is subject to Government approval of the Council’s governance arrangements for distributing the funding which is expected before Christmas.

Grants to help make Moorlands homes warmer

As energy price rises take effect, grant-funded schemes to help home owners and private renters improve energy efficiency and reduce bills are available in the Staffordshire Moorlands.

house in winter – heating system concept and cold snowy weather with model of a house wearing a knitted cap

The District Council is working in partnership with the County Council and Beat the Cold on the Staffordshire Warmer Homes scheme to help residents heat their homes for less using greener and more energy efficient solutions.

The grants can be used to fund loft or cavity wall insulations, solar panels, air source heat pumps and other measures to improve energy efficiency.

The funding is for households who:

  • Earn under £31,000 per household
  • Claim a means tested benefit

Cabinet Member for Communities, Councillor Ross Ward, said: “These schemes can make a real difference in making our homes warmer and – as importantly – reducing the amount of energy we use which will help bring bills down.

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Cost of living crisis – help available on Staffs Moorlands Council hub

With winter approaching, and as the cost of living and energy price hikes continue, households across the Moorlands will be thinking about how to manage their budgets over the coming months.

Advice and support is available to help people with rising costs, managing debt,  energy efficiency and schemes to help keep homes warm.

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council has published a cost of living hub to bring together information about these schemes to make it easy for residents to find what they’re looking for – www.staffsmoorlands.gov.uk/CostOfLivingHub

Councillor Ross Ward, Cabinet member for Communities, said: “Increasing food and other living costs means balancing budgets will be concerning for many of us as we enter the colder months of the year.

“Support is on offer to help households, and we want to ensure people are aware of what they can access, so we’ve created this hub on our website to assist by bringing together information about several schemes in a single place.

“The hub includes links to local support, including help with rent and council tax, alongside national initiatives, such as the cost of living payment and other help for households, and tips on how to look after your mental health.

“If you’re worried about managing your finances, please take a look at all this information and make sure you’re getting all the help that you’re entitled to.”

Santa Tour Biddulph 2022