Council leader warns opponents after losing Cannock town centre regeneration vote
Cannock Chase Council’s leader has accused opposition group members of trying to “scupper” town centre regeneration plans after they voted against a motion at a heated meeting.
The Labour administration lost out on a recommendation by just one vote to update the capital programme for the Cannock town centre regeneration works, enabling funds to be allocated, at January’s full council meeting.
Conservative, Green Party and Reform UK members spoke out against the demolition of the Prince of Wales Theatre, which is one of the proposals included in the latest plans to transform the town centre. They said the decision would go against residents’ calls to save the arts venue, which includes a petition signed by more than 20,000 people.
Council leader Steve Thornley warned at the meeting – before the crucial vote was taken – of consequences if the motion was not passed. He said: “If that money doesn’t go forward, the development plan stops and a lot more important things stop; that town centre development stays exactly as it is.”
A development framework, which presents a strategic vision for the redevelopment of each plot within the town centre regeneration scheme, is due to come forward in the coming weeks, a report to the December cabinet meeting said. It was not presented at Thursday’s cabinet meeting (January 29), but Councillor Thornley did speak about the regeneration project.
He said: “I am firmly committed to making this happen and providing the prosperity that our residents, businesses, and organisations desperately need now – and for future generations. We provided the blueprint to attract potential new investment, new businesses, new opportunities, new people, and breathe new life into the town centre.
“The vote by opposition councillors placed all that in serious jeopardy.
I am very disappointed those in opposition chose to try and frustrate this important project by scoring Brownie points at the expense of our town’s future.
“But I will make this very clear to them, and our whole community, we as a cabinet are more determined than ever to save the regeneration ambitions that those opposition councillors have tried to scupper.”
Conservative group leader Councillor Olivia Lyons was council leader when the authority secured £20m from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund in 2021 towards the town centre regeneration project. She said elected members were being asked to vote on changes including “two highly significant proposals” at the January meeting: the demolition of the theatre and the preparation of a business case to relocate the council office, currently based at Beecroft Road.
She added: “These are not minor technical amendments. They are irreversible political decisions — and they demand scrutiny, evidence, and honesty.
“The theatre was central to the original regeneration vision for Cannock town centre — the very vision that secured Government funding in the first place. The Levelling Up Fund bid made a clear commitment: the theatre would be enhanced, not erased.
“It was intended to be a cultural and economic anchor for the town centre. Demolition is not evolution of that vision — it is abandonment of it.
“Cabinet cannot credibly claim continuity with the original scheme while simultaneously tearing out one of its core pillars.”
