Express & Star

CCTV and floral displays to stay in Cannock despite £1.6 million cuts plan

CCTV and floral displays will be saved when Cannock Chase District Council announces its final plans to save £1.6 million.

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The authority is also set to strike a deal with the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) to ensure the vital service is viable.

The council is poised to lose £1 million a year in business rates from the premature closure of Rugeley Power Station this year.

Bosses will outline their final savings proposals in mid-December but council leader George Adamson has confirmed to the Express & Star that services voted most popular in a recent public consultation, including CCTV and flower displays, would be safeguarded. More than 1,000 people took part in the six-week survey.

Councillor Adamson said: "We are keeping most of the things people have put forward as things they liked.

"Flower beds and CCTV were the top two. The CAB was another popular one.

"We have taken into account what they have said and will move from here. We have listened.

"Of course not everybody is going to be happy." Axing CCTV would have saved the council £107,040 a year. Cannock Chase Police Chief Inspector Geoff Knight had spoken out against the move saying it would be 'detrimental to the district'.

Councillor Maureen Freeman, who fought for cameras to be installed at Cannock Park, also described their role as 'extremely important'.

A move to end planting floral displays would have saved £12,000 a year, a move which was described as 'radically wrong' by Chris Flood of the Norton Canes Flower Club. flower displays like the one at the Cannock town centre roundabout opposite the main bus station which links Ringway and Park Road could now be protected. Another option was to reduce the council's £136,890 funding for the CAB by more than £50,000.

Tony McGovern, the council's managing director, confirmed the full proposals will be put to the next cabinet meeting, understood to be on December 15, triggering another public consultation.

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