Plan to build £2m athletics site
Plans by the ruling cabinet of Cannock Chase District Council to look for alternative sites in Hednesford for a £2 million athletics stadium have been backed by councillors. Plans by the ruling cabinet of Cannock Chase District Council to look for alternative sites in Hednesford for a £2 million athletics stadium have been backed by councillors. The move follows concerns by council leader Neil Stanley that the plan to put the stadium at Blake Valley Technology College could collapse following the involvement of Labour county councillors. The council had hoped to move leisure and sport facilities from the council's Pye Green Road stadium which the authority is hoping to sell for housing. Bosses at the council hope the cash from the sale will provide the finance for the council's Chase Leisure Village at Cannock Park. Read the full story in today's Express and Star.
A September deadline had been put in place to ensure the Blake Valley plan was finalised but now concerns from the county council have put that in doubt.
Council leader Councillor Neil Stanley told a meeting of the full council that the school governors still supported the plans.
He said: "We have received a letter from the governors confirming their support for the project but at the end of the day the county council are the landlords and they will decide.
"What this plan does is allows us to look at alternative sites should the Blake plan not go ahead. The Blake site is still the council's preferred option."
Council officers will now spend £40,000 looking for an alternative site for the plan as a back-up if the Blake Valley project falls through.
County Councillor Sue Woodward said Labour councillors were keen to ensure residents' views were considered and that the school did not have to carry any additional management burden.
She said a letter was sent to the district council in mid-April raising various issues but that no reply had been received.
By Shaun Lintern
