|
|
Kidsgrove Ski Centre to Expand? |
 |
 |
 |
|
 Kidsgrove Ski Centre is looking to expand the size of the slope at its Bathpool location in Kidsgrove. Kidsgrove Ski Centre has applied for planning permission to extend the bottom of the slope to 60 metres, something that will increase the length of the slope by 16 metres to 100 metres in total.
The Kidsgrove Ski Centre is a well used and highly recommended slope in the Staffordshire area with people traveling from all over the county to make use of the facilities that it has to offer. User of Bathpool Park in Kidsgrove would not have failed to notice the Ski slope at the Kidsgrove end of the park, something that adds to the leisure facilities that are on offer.
It does appear that not all Kidsgrove residents are happy about the plans, with a small number of local residents living near the car park access of the Kidsgrove Ski Centre collecting a petition regarding the impact that the plans will have on car parking in the area. It appears that Kidsgrove Mayor Kyle Robinson is sitting on the fence on this issue, giving a comment to The Sentinel which neither opposes the plans, nor offers backing to the residents and their concerns.
Kidsgrove Ski Club has around 900 members and is run by 40 volunteers. Newcastle Brough Council will make a decision on the application on the 5th of March. It will be interesting to hear how Kidsgrove Mayor Kyle Robinson votes on this issue, given the non-committal statements made in the media so far.
|
|
 Reports suggest that Kidsgrove could be about to get a fibre optic upgrade in the telecommunications system that the area possesses. Reports of BT working in the Kidsgrove area have been rife and started speculation that Kidsgorve could be about to see the introduction of super-fast broadband. It was also reported on Sunday that a mass of work was taking place at the Kidsgrove telephone exchange as well as fibre optic cable being laid in parts of Whitehill and Kidsgrove.
BT has yet to confirm that Kidsgrove is having such an upgrade, only saying that Alsager, Congleton and Cheadle (Staffordshire Moorlands) are live at the moment with this service. Newcastle-under-Lyme is due to be upgraded at some point during this year. We advise all residents to watch this space as we will report any news on the story as soon as we get it.
|
|
Butt Lane Community Centre |
|
|
|
|
As you may have been aware from a previous article, the previous committee of the Butt Lane Community Centre all resigned leaving this centre in Butt Lane to close. It was reported at the time that the previous committed which was mainly made up of local Labour Councillors had decided to resign when Newcastle Borough Council decided to impose the right to have an elected member of their choice on the committee.
The Butt Lane Community Centre has since closed and is in need of a new committee, something that Lib Dem councillor Dennis Richards is keen to setup. The committee ideally should be non-political and consist of people who have an interest in running a local venue. The group would have responsibility for the day to day running and financial accounts of the venue.
If you are interested in getting involved in this event, please contact Jessica Perry on 01782 786162.
|
|
Whitehill Online 10 Years of Delivering Kidsgrove News |
|
|
|
|
 Whitehill Online will be celebrating its 10th Birthday on Friday the 24th February. This will mark 10 years of serving the Kidsgrove community with independent news and views from the Kidsgrove and surrounding areas.
On the 24th February 2002 Whitehill Web was founded and launched as a website on the old Yahoo Geocities, web platform. This was a service that allowed anyone free web space to setup and host their own websites to share with the connected world. Whitehill Web was very much a static website that provided information and news from Whitehill and Kidsgrove. The site was actually designed in a yellow and black format and was surprisingly popular, considering the limited number of people with internet access at this time.
Whitehill Web was actually listed as one of the first local village websites produced and as far as we are aware, the only local websites in Staffordshire older, are one in Leek and one in Stafford.
It was in 2003 that Whitehill Online first came on to your screens. The editor of Whitehill Web decided that he wanted to pursue other interests in life and the site passed over. The site had a rebrand in 2003 and became Whitehill Online, the black and yellow had been replaced by the white and blue colour scheme. It became evident that residents now expected us to deliver not only news from the Kidsgrove area, but allow them to express their opinion on what matters to them in Kidsgrove. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Whitehill Online Takes Kidsgrove News Mobile |
|
|
|
|
 Today we are pleased to announce that Whitehill Online is bringing the residents of Kidsgrove another first. Whitehill Online has now made the necessary changes to enable Whitehill Online to display properly and promptly on your mobile phone or tablet computer. We have seen increasingly over the last year the number of mobile users grow and as a result we want to ensure that they get instant, but full access to the news and views from the Kidsgrove area.
Kidsgrove res idents do not need to use any unique Internet addresses or expect a specially designed mobile site with limited access. Whitehill Online is really bringing residents FULL access to the site on your mobile device, including the very popular forum boards. We are aware that some devices potentially may not display every single image, however work is already on going to address this.
Whitehill Online prides itself on delivering local news and allowing residents of Kidsgrove the chance to interact and share their options in a public domain. We believe this is another positive step forward for the residents of Kidsgrove and the whole local online experience that we provide.
|
|
Kidsgrove Residents Support Christmas Lights Switch On |
|
|
|
|
 Kidsgrove residents have overwhelmingly voiced their opinion when it comes to the Christmas lights offering in Kidsgrove. Throughout the festive period Kidsgrove residents have voiced concern about the rather lame effort that Kidsgrove appears to get, when compared to other local towns. Some residents commented that the Christmas carnival at Kidsgrove Town Hall was a lame effort and not living up to the expectations that they had.
Whitehill Online has been running a poll asking Kidsgrove residents if they wanted Kidsgrove to have a Christmas lights swtich on, like that of Alsager, where they close of the main road through the town and invite street traders and local businesses to get involved. It is clear this is a vision that is shared by an overwhelming majority of Kidsgrove residents. It is something that should be possible and would help to promote the community of Kidsgrove.
It would be easy to close off Market Street in Kidsgrove and allow a market to operate in this area. This is where most local businesses are based and the event would be a great way to promote local trade. A fair ground could be located near to the Victoria Hall or on the Car Park opposite Bee Jay Discounts. Kidsgrove has a more suitable layout than Alsager to hold one of these events and with the Kidsgrove Town Council claiming to be interested in the local area, there is no excuse for them not to make this happen.
|
|
Whitehill Road Parking Improvements |
|
|
|
|
 It appears that the bad weather has delayed the parking improvements that are going to be made to Whitehill Road. County Councillor Mary Maxfield has successfully achieved what many before her failed to do, in getting the verges improved on Whitehill Road. It does appear though that due to the bad weather in the Kidsgrove area residents of Whitehill Road will have to wait a few weeks longer before this work takes place. It is pleasing to know that the Kidsgrove area is now getting something back from Staffordshire County Council, after many years of neglect.
|
|
Kidsgrove Winter Weather Warning |
|
|
|
|
 There is a weather warning in place for the Kidsgrove and North Staffordshire area of the UK tonight. This could bring snow, even though at the moment we are experiencing rain here in Kidsgrove. The rain makes gritting pointless so expect icy roads and please take care when driving about on Kidsgrove's roads. Let's hope that if the snow does fall over night Staffordshire County Council will have the resources to grit the roads ready for the morning rush hour, which no doubt will be busier than usual. |
|
|
Kidgrove Town Council to Fund £2000 Youth Parliment |
|
|
|
|
We have been informed that Labour Controlled Kidsgrove Town Council has budgeted £2000 in the Kidsgrove Part of your council tax to pay for a Youth Council. No doubt this project has the backing of Kidsgrove Mayor and Astle family member Kyle Robinson, who is also an employee at Clough Hall Technology School. Kidsgrove Town Council appears to be really interested in this ideas of a Youth Council, despite the fact that taxpayers are already paying for the nationally recognised Youth Parliament programme that takes place in schools all over the UK. This scheme is exceptionally successful in Staffordshire and has a sound resource base behind it.
It is once again not clear how the vast £2000 sum would be spent on this project or what the actual intended outcomes would be? If these are not vastly different from those of the existing Youth Parliament scheme then taxpayers and students will all be asking "what is the point?". It is times like this when we should be expecting value for money, however it is becoming increasingly easy to find stories of how the Labour Controlled Kidsgrove Town Council keeps wanting to spend money and reduce the quality of life for all local residents of Kidsgrove.
Councillor Dave Stringer informs us that all parties have voted on and passed the Kidsgrove Town Council budget, with some very positive comments on the work which the Kidsgrove Youth Parliament did in its establishment last year. The councils have formed two working parties which are working on projects in the local area. The students have been educated in how to obtain sources of finance and encouraged to get involved in local events.
Some other Councillors are worried that this money could be used to influence the political views of young people, something that will be increasingly hard to avoid if any programme like this is run by a council which increasingly controlled by one political party.
|
|
Kidsgrove Town Council Wastes £990 of Taxpayers Money |
|
|
|
|
It was reported last week that Labour Controlled Kidsgrove Town Council is wasting £990 of taxpayers money on a grant to the Friends of Talke Library group. Kidsgrove Town Mayor and member of the Astle family Kyle Robinson supports this plan to hand out £990 of your money to the Friends of Talke Library group, to spend on the reported vague plans.
Kidsgrove Town Council has reportedly handed out the £990 to be spent on two different projects for the Friends of Talke Library group. It is planned that £400 of taxpayers money is going to be handed to an author to talk to the group members. This is £400 of our money being handed out to a private individual. Would the Friends of Talke Library group spend this sort of money on an author if they had to invest their own private funds?
They will spend the remaining funds on holding five arts and crafts events. Again questions can be asked about why each event will cost over £100 in total, especially in tough times when many local residents are wanting to see Kidsgrove Town Council spending money to benefit the whole Kidsgrove area and not just a select few.
Many questions still remain unanswered about the award of this money from Kidsgrove Town Council to The Friends of Talke Library group;
- Who is the author who is costing £400?
- What benefits will this talk bring to the taxpaying residents of Kidsgrove?
- How many members does the Friends of Talke Library group have?
- Are any of the members of the Friends of Talke Library Group members of the Kidsgrove Labour Party or friends with member of the Kidsgrove Labour Party?
- How much money has the group raised pro-actively before this grant?
Supporting the Kidsgrove community can only be a good thing, however handing out such vast amounts of money to such a select few in the community, doesn't seem fair or a good way to spend Kidsgrove taxpayers money.
|
|
 Kidsgrove is currently experiencing high levels of snow fall, like many parts of the local area. Despite the efforts of Staffordshire County Council gritting teams it appears that many roads in the Kidsgrove area are snow covered this evening. We can only advise that people do not travel, unless they have to.
Staffodshire County Councillor for Kidsgrove Mary Maxfield informed us that the gritters were out 3 times in an 11 hour period yesterday. It appears that the drifting nature of the snow, combined with low traffic levels didn't help to clear the roads which had been salted. We can now report that all the main roads in Kidsgrove have now been cleared, which no doubt will the result of one further grit treatment.
I think we all have to expect travel disruption when it snows as salting only works when traffic is driving on it. |
|
 It has been reported that today is the day that Newchapel Club has closed down. The Club which was known in its later years at The Club at Newchapel and for many years Newchapel Working Mens Club has been struggling for many years, mainly as a result of changing consumer habits. The previous owner purchased the site for a reported £250,000 and ran the business under its new name. It appears though that this was not enough to save the club and today it has been boarded up and the for sale signed placed outside.
Clearly this is a sad day for Newchapel Club and residents are naturally concerned about the anti social behaviour this may now attract.
|
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next > End >>
|
|
Page 1 of 7 |
