STADIUM COSTS SOAR TO ALMOST £1,000 PER DAY!

The subsidy cost that local council tax payers now have to pay-out to keep Cannock Athletics Stadium open has rocketed to £970 per day and that is every day of the year! It is a subsidy paid by residents from Rugeley, Hednesford and indeed all parts of the Chase District, not just Cannock.

The Stadium is used by the Cannock and Stafford Athletics Club, which has members from the Cannock Chase and Stafford and from other areas outside the Chase district. The Athletics club use the stadium twice a week for practices and four times per year for competitive events.

The football pitch in the centre of the athletics track is also used by the local football association for some of its competition finals, but they have previously indicated that this is only because Hednesford Town FC have in the past been unable to guarantee them dates at Keys Park.

TOTAL SUBSIDY FOR LEISURE FACILITIES IS NOW OVER £7,400 EACH DAY!

Labour Will Throw Your Money Down The Drain - Given Half A Chance !

The total cost of subsidising the Cannock's Prince of Wales Theatre, Chase Leisure Centre, Golf Course, and Stadium, together with the Museum in Hednesford and the new Leisure Centre in Rugeley is now more than £7,400 per day.

Significantly the only facility where the subsidy was less than expected in last year's budget was Rugeley Leisure Centre. The explanation is quite simple and was in fact reported to the Council by Consultants taken on by Labour five years ago, before they were voted out of control of the Council. That report stated that the only way to reduce the subsidies was to increase the number of people paying to use the facilities and that could only be done by providing "bright, new, attractive facilities". The proof is already there, the new leisure centre in Rugeley attracts the customers while the other facilities are underused.

"PATCH AND MEND" IS MONEY DOWN THE DRAIN!

Labour Councillors have proposed a return to a Council policy of "patch and mend", spending over £6 million pounds on emergency and urgent repairs just to keep the old facilities safe enough to be kept open. The Liberal Democrats believe that this would prove to be money down the drain, as it would do nothing to increase the number of people paying to use the facilities and would still leave everyone having to pay nearly £3 million per year in subsidy through the council tax bills.

IT'S 2007! - ISN'T IT TIME TO STOP SETTLING FOR SECOND BEST?

Lack Of Investment Results In Crumbling Facilities

The Liberal Democrats believe that the whole of the Chase District needs new facilities that people will want to use and that as a result the annual subsidy will be reduced. That is why the Council is now building a swimming pool in Rugeley and why they are planning for the Council to build a new theatre and leisure village Cannock and to spend £2 million pounds on leisure and recreation facilities in Hednesford.

MONEY VITAL TO ENSURE THAT THE PRINCE OF WALES THEATRE IS REPLACED!

When Cannock Town Centre redevelopment goes ahead, the Prince of Wales Theatre will be closed and the building demolished to provide space for the new shops. The local Liberal Democrat Councillors are committed to ensuring that a replacement theatre is built, but this can only happen if money is raised to pay for it! The Liberal Democrats have said that some of the money raised from the sale of the land at and around the stadium will be used to ensure that the Prince of Wales is replaced. Indeed their plans are for an increase in size of the theatre by almost 50% in order to attract larger performances and "bigger" acts. The Labour Party has not in four years put forward an alternative way to pay for a replacement theatre. Either they are planning to oppose the redevelopment of Cannock Town Centre and the provision of major shops or they are prepared to see the Theatre not replaced.

OUTRAGE AT LABOUR PLANS TO RESTRICT ANY NEW DEVELOPMENTS TO CANNOCK AND THE "SOUTHERN PART" OF THE CHASE DISTRICT!

Local residents in Rugeley, Brereton, Rawnsley and Hednesford have contacted the Liberal Democrats expressed their outrage and disgust at the Labour Councillors attempt to restrict consideration of sites for leisure and recreation facilities to what they have called the "southern part of the district". If the Cannock Chase District Council's area is divided in half and only the south of the district is considered then obviously Rugeley, Brereton and Rawnsley will be excluded (could it be because these are areas represented by Liberal Democrat Councillors?) but also most of Hednesford will also not be considered. Residents of Hednesford should compare this with the Liberal Democrats plans to spend £2 million pounds on recreation amenities in Hednesford.

RECYCLING - FROM WORST TO BEST IN JUST FIVE YEARS!

Five years ago Cannock Chase Council and local people was the subject of ridicule when it came to recycling. With a record of recycling just 1.5% of its waste, The then Labour run Council was listed by Friends of the Earth as one of the 10 worst Councils in Britain, and the local evening paper ran a derogatory article comparing the district as the worst in the country with Lichfield "next-door" which was then the best in the country.

How times have changed since the Liberal Democrats took over the leadership of the Council! Recycling rates for this year are currently running at over 44% and an annual achievement of approaching 50% is forecast. Such a result will almost certainly see the Chase District over-take Lichfield and become the best in Staffordshire and one of the top ten councils in the Country.

Glass Bottles, Food Tins, Empty Aerosol Cans & Plastic Items

ALREADY LEADING THE ENTIRE COUNTRY - THROUGH WEEKLY COLLECTION OF FOOD WASTE!

Green Waste, Cardboard & Food Waste

Just a few weeks ago a report from MPS about waste collections and recycling made a lot of national headlines. One of the reports conclusions was that although they could find no real evidence of alternative weekly refuse collections resulting in health hazards, they felt that there was a need for a weekly collection of food waste. The MPs report said that unfortunately there was nowhere in the country doing it. Well they got that WRONG! Since April, residents of this District have been able to put food and kitchen waste into either their brown bin for recycling through composting, or their green bin for ordinary landfill disposal. This has meant that throughout this summer food waste has not had to wait for longer than a week before being collected and disposed of.