Latest news with #StokeonTrentCityCouncil
BBC News
28-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Community 'in limbo' over Meir Railway Station reopening
A community has been left "in limbo" because of uncertainty around a £15m project to reopen a railway station, a councillor has Railway Station in Stoke-on-Trent, which closed in 1966, was among the projects included in the previous government's Restoring Your Railway (RYR) programme, which was scrapped after Labour took power last government said the individual projects would be reviewed, but councillors and residents have since raised concerns over the lack of a decision on the Meir Department for Transport (DfT) said the projects would be considered as part of next month's Spending Review. More than 570 people have since signed a petition calling for Stoke-on-Trent City Council to lobby the government to approve the station's councillor Faisal Hussain told the authority's housing, regeneration and operations scrutiny committee the scheme was feasible and would help to address Meir's transport issues."When the Chancellor made her speech on the cancellation of Restoring Your Railway, she did say she would look at each individual scheme and make a decision based on progression," he told Thursday's meeting."She left us all in limbo as to what that meant." 'We need funding' The Meir South representative urged the Labour-led council to ask the government to "rethink its decision and restore funding for Meir Station".Labour councillor Finlay Gordon-McCusker said the RYR was a "great aspiration", but described it as a "pipe dream" under the previous Conservative government."We share your aspiration to have Meir station reopened but we're in the same situation as the previous administration - we can't do it alone and we need the funding," he council wrote a letter to the government in March asking for a final decision on the project and Mr Gordon-McCusker agreed to write a second letter.A DfT spokesperson said it was committed to delivering transport infrastructure that would "boost growth and opportunity" across the country."The government inherited an extremely challenging financial position, and these projects will be considered as part of the upcoming Spending Review," they said. This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
17-05-2025
- BBC News
Action threatened over fire-damaged building in Stoke-on-Trent
Action could be taken against the owner of a building which was damaged by a fire that killed a homeless man last Square in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, has been fenced off since Jamie Parker died in the blaze at the former Yates wine bar in March structure has been made secure but issues at the site including rough sleepers, anti-social behaviour, fly-tipping and trespassing are still being reported, according to Stoke-on-Trent City authority said it had made "numerous attempts" to contact the owner, who has not been identified, but they had failed to engage. Councillor Chris Robinson, cabinet member for housing and planning, said: "We will continue our attempts to liaise with the building owner and will not hesitate to take enforcement action against them if they fail to take the necessary action to make the building safe and secure." Firefighters were called to the blaze at the site at about 05:45 GMT on 12 March 2024 and Mr Parker's body was found a day inquest on Wednesday heard he had started the fire to try and keep warm before it quickly got out of controlThe other homeless men who were in the building with him managed to escape but the fire was too extensive for Mr Parker to be rescued, assistant coroner Lindsey Tonks ruled that his death was misadventure and described it as a tragic event. Shortly after Mr Parker died, his sister Stephanie said he was a "beautiful person" who had "everything going for him" before his life began to spiral after suffering a brain injury in issues were exacerbated by a drug addiction, then by the deaths of their eldest sister in 2015 and their mum in Parker said: "I miss him a lot. I've missed him for years even before he was gone, with the road he went down.""He deserved better, he really did deserve better," she added. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
