1,397 sign petition to stop Stoke-on-Trent City Council's Hanley HQ move
ALMOST 1,400 people have signed the latest petition opposing city council plans to build a new £40 million headquarters in Hanley.
The 1,397-name internet and paper petition will be presented to city councillors at a meeting next week.
Petition organiser Kristian Foster will address councillors after being angered by the authority's plans to sell-off Stoke's civic centre and move to the planned city centre Central Business District (CBD).
Architecture student Kristian, aged 29, of Penkhull, said: "It's great that so many people have supported the petition and people who don't even know me have forwarded the website link to others.
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"It's obvious that a lot of residents in Stoke-on-Trent feel strongly that the council has not justified the costs of building another civic centre. It seems like the council is spending a lot of money to build offices for themselves and it just seems like a massive waste of money."
The Kingston University student, who has also set up a Facebook group called Stoke City Civic Sense, said his family have also been aiding his campaign.
He said: "My family have been great in supporting me and my mum and dad have even taken the petition into their work.
"I'm pleased that my petition has created a lot of discussion and hopefully the many petitions and protests will mean that the council will start listening."
The Save Our Stoke campaign group has previously organised its own petition against the civic centre move. The group also organised last month's March on Stoke protest from Hanley to Stoke.
Group co-ordinator Richard Snell, aged 66, of Penkhull, said: "Kristian's petition demonstrates yet again that people are against what the council is doing.
"I feel like the council has never given a full explanation about the move.
"Cuts are being made throughout the city, while all the money to make investments is being concentrated in one town and two buildings.
"It's obvious that people are angry about the move and sooner or later the council will have to take our views seriously."
Stoke town centre traders are fighting to stop 1,300 council workers being relocated.
Robert Barrs, aged 37, who owns Rubber Soul Records, in Hide Street, Stoke, said: "We must keep the pressure on the council and not give up. Our biggest issue is the lack of dialogue between the council, local traders and residents.
"It is not that we are opposed to change or progress but we feel that we haven't been given any reasons for this move.
"There hasn't been any consideration and it is our livelihoods on the line."
The council is building and occupying two office blocks in the CBD. Over 10 years the CBD will expand in six phases to include six office blocks providing office space, ground floor shops and cafes around a central piazza and hotels. It is hoped 4,500 people will end up working within the CBD.
The existing civic centre is up for sale alongside the former Spode works, Stoke Town Hall, the King's Hall, Gordon House and Kingsway car park, all in Stoke.
10 Comments
by Benko
Thursday, March 14 2013, 12:10PM
“by dougalcross
"We could agree to vote against our Labour councillors for their obduracy towards the people of Stoke-on-Trent, and against Stoke's Labour MP's for their silence on the issue.
But who on earth could we vote FOR?"
Labour councillors and others have betrayed the 250,000 people of Stoke-on-Trent by voting to build a new HQ that we DO NOT NEED and for jobs losses, cuts, closures and privatisation of sevices that WE DO NEED.
We to make sure that we replace them with councillors who will not waste money but in particular will fight AGAINST CUTS.
The Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition stood 6 local anti-cuts candidates the last ocal elections in 2011. This year we are standing at least 11 candidates across Staffordshire (as there are no eections in Stok-on-Trent). In 2015 we will be standing across Stoke-on-Trent .......
Checkout this .........
http://tinyurl.com/cp64xm2
and this ......
http://tinyurl.com/8yh66o6”
by pattsey
Wednesday, March 13 2013, 4:04PM
“Doesn't anyone remember Unity House in Hanley, you know that huge multistory white elephant of a building that was the NEW civic office for Stoke on Trent. All the staff from Stoke civic offices moved up there. After some years it was said to have been jerry built and was condemned, after standing disused and derelict for years it was razed to the ground. A brand new building was built in Stoke, the present one and they all moved back.
Labour councils in Stoke upon Trent appear to have a thing with deja vu.”
by rubythursday
Tuesday, March 12 2013, 12:34PM
“"The existing civic centre is up for sale alongside the former Spode works, Stoke Town Hall, the King's Hall, Gordon House and Kingsway car park, all in Stoke"
alongside stoke's road and rail network THIS would be the perfect site for a CBD”
by dougalcross
Tuesday, March 12 2013, 4:32AM
“We could agree to vote against our Labour councillors for their obduracy towards the people of Stoke-on-Trent, and against Stoke's Labour MP's for their silence on the issue.
But who on earth could we vote FOR?”
by pj123
Monday, March 11 2013, 11:29PM
“You can get 10,000 names and Pervez and his monkeys will not take a blind bit of notice.
They could not give a stuff, and just prove the fools that voted them in are gullable idiots.
You've been made mugs of get used to it.”
by Lilith1980
Monday, March 11 2013, 6:48PM
“Looks like the petition has closed :(
I am disappointed that more people didn't sign it given the uproar, although would a higher number of signatures make much difference?
This new building angers me so much, especially after watching that programme where residential homes for the elderley were closed. How can they justify this building?? And what will happen to the old one??”
by stokepotter
Monday, March 11 2013, 5:47PM
“This Council just will not listen. There is no rhyme or reason in what they are doing as so many contributors to the various articles on this subject have already stated so many times for months and to which the people of this City marched together to protest against this white elephant.
The people of this City are totally ignored by the local politicians who follow the same old Labour practices of borrowing up to the hilt and landing us into huge debts for decades to come. They spend hard-earned taxpayers money on useless ill-conceived projects (that always overrun and cost far more than originally budgeted for).
This unwanted and unnecessary new building will achieve nothing for Hanley but will decimate Stoke, turning it into a ghost town. It will only serve to satisfy the personal gratification of Mr Pevez ands his buddies. My betting is that there will be a plaque on the wall of this building with Mr Pevez's name on it to serve as his personal legacy (for a decade if previous CIvic Centres in this City are anything to go by). Only he and his cronies will be proud of what they have achieved - ther rest of us will be left picking up the bill and bemoaning the loss of all the Services that will no longer exist as the money they would have cost will now be needed to pay for this monstrosity.
I have also another question. What are the local MPs doing. They are totally silent. (Are we surprised as they too are Labour). They should be listening to the people of this City and raising concerns within Whitehall as even the consultants paid by the Council could not make a justifiable business case for this building. It STINKS"
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/cf8huwl
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by stokepotter
Monday, March 11 2013, 5:44PM
“THis Council just iwll not listen. There is no rhyme or reason in what they are doing as so many contributors to the various articles on this subject have already stated so many times and to which people actually marched together in peaceful protest against this white elephant.
The people of this City are totally ignored by the local politicians who follow the same old Labour practices of borrowing up to the hilt and landing us into huge debts for decades to come. They spend hard-earned taxpayers money on useless ill-conceived projects (that always overrun and cost far more than originally budgeted for).
This unwanted and unnecessary new building will achieve nothing for Hanley but will decimate Stoke, turning it into a ghost town. It will onlyserve to satisfy the personal gratification of Mr Pevez ands his buddies. My betting is that there will be a plaque on the wall of this building with Mr Pevez's name on it to serve as his personal legacy (for a decade if previous CIvic Centres in this City are anything to go by). Only he and his cronies will be proud of what they have achieved - ther rest of us will be left picking up the bill and bemonaing the loss of all the Services that will no longer exist as the money will be needed to pay for this monstrosity.
I have also another question. What are the local MPs doing. They are totally silent. (Are we suprsied as they are Labour). They should be listening to the people of this City and raising concerns within Whitehall as even the consultants paid by the Council could not make a juslitifiable business case for this building.”
by stokepotter
Monday, March 11 2013, 5:25PM
“Can we still add names to the petition. If so, where is it?”
by Stonemaiden
Monday, March 11 2013, 12:22PM
“I don't understand the need for this new building ,especially in the current economic mess we are experiencing. What is wrong with the present Civic Hall , this building is not that old, if it was a crumbling wreck I could perhaps understand it but as things are I am baffled. Surely there must be a way to prevent these megalomaniacs from totally destroying Stoke. The plans for Hanley are bizarre if nothing else. Why not let Stoke be the business centre and Hanley the shopping centre, with additional retail development in Stoke. Hanley does not need another shopping centre, it just needs to upgrade what it already has , and try to make shopping in Hanley a more pleasurable experience. I was shopping out of the area recently and got in conversation with an assistant in House of Fraser. She said she had been with her daughter to see the Saxon Hoard in Hanley museum. She apologised and then said if she had to live in Hanley she would probably commit suicide. Both her and her daughter thought it was a dreadful place. So, here we are with this wonderful gift of the Saxon Hoard and we cannot do our best to make the area appealing but we can give them a hideous , gaudy new civic centre.
All we seem to do is knock buildings down, leave a mess and move on to the next area without any cohesive plan. We are losing our heritage, we could have restored some old cottages near to the museum, and given visitors a glimpse of the old days. This has been done successfully in Birmingham. Why are we so hell bent on wholesale destruction ? Remember," you don't know what you've got till it's gone".Don't let that be true of the potteries.”