Cannock Chase Council has extended the range of businesses who are eligible for its discretionary grant scheme known as Additional Restrictions Grants (ARG).

It follows the Chancellor’s budget statement last month which promised further support from April to those businesses continuing to be affected by lockdown measures and means grants will become available to self-employed businesses from 30 April.

Cannock Chase Council is undertaking a new campaign to highlight `the blight of fly tipping`.

Called `We Are Watching` it uses radio advertising, social media and vinyl artwork on  Council vehicles to get over the message that fly tipping creates an unsightly mess, that through CCTV offenders can be caught, and that residents can play their part by reporting fly-tippers.

Using resources developed by Keep Britain Tidy, the campaign also highlights the consequences if individuals fail to take proper care when disposing of waste.

Cannock Chase Council is seeking your views on important plans and documents that will shape the future of Cannock Chase District.

The Council is consulting from Friday 19 March until Friday 30 April 2021 on the Cannock Chase Local Plan Preferred Option and accompanying Sustainability Appraisal.

Cannock Chase Council officers are busy preparing for the elections on Thursday 6 May.   

Elections will be held across 13 Cannock Chase District Council wards, 6 Staffordshire County Council divisions (7 seats), and for the Staffordshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner. There is also a by-election for a seat on Rugeley Town Council.

Candidates and their agents for the District and County Council elections are being invited to a virtual briefing via Zoom on Tuesday 16 March at 5pm.

Safety will be paramount throughout the election period.

‘We Are Watching’... Cannock Chase Council has installed CCTV in hot spot areas across the District to tackle fly tipping.

These cameras are first and foremost a deterrent, but the Council intends to use any evidence found to take enforcement action against the offenders. Fly tipping is an environmental crime, which has been steadily increasing over the last few years.

A Walsall man has been ordered to pay fines and costs of £359 after leaving a wine bottle on Cannock Chase. 

Mr Daniel Taylor, from Walsall, was witnessed littering the wine bottle by PC Darren Wilkes, Rural and Wildlife Crime Officer from Staffordshire Police.

Cannock Chase Council’s Environmental Health Team then issued Mr Taylor with a fixed penalty notice for £75 and when it wasn’t paid, he was taken to court.

Cannock Chase Council’s Cabinet has today (28 January) put forward its recommendations for the Council’s general fund budget covering the next three financial years to 2023-24.

In today’s Cabinet report the focus was on the impact of the pandemic on the Council and its residents and the need to maintain services for residents.

The impact of Covid-19 on the Council during the next financial year, for 2021-22, is estimated to be £1.4million.  

Cannock Chase Council has announced phase 2 of its social housing investment programme with a further £12 million of resources being allocated to this new phase.

The next Census takes place on Sunday 21 March and to ensure its success in Cannock Chase District, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has appointed a Census Engagement Manager to support residents in the area.

Kirat Raj Singh, the area’s Census Engagement Manager, will help organisations, charities, faith groups and community leaders within the District raise awareness of the census and the value to residents in taking part. In his role he will be covering Cannock Chase, South Staffordshire and Tamworth districts with support from each of the councils.

The leaders of all Staffordshire councils have joined forces to appeal for all workers who can’t work from home to book a regular Covid test – as part of the rollout of mass testing of people without symptoms.

With new Community Testing Centres open across the county, council leaders are calling for workers in all places allowed to stay open, to make testing part of their regular routine in efforts to identify more people who may unknowingly be carrying the virus.