Campaign for 'Heritage' Status for Cannock Chase

Aidan Burley MP and his Parliamentary colleagues from Stafford, South Staffordshire and Lichfield have launched a petition calling for Cannock Chase to granted heritage status alongside other areas such as the Forest of Dean and the New Forest.

He will be leading a campaign by Staffordshire MPs to ensure that Cannock Chase is able to take its place alongside these other forests and has already sent a joint letter to the Minister along with the MPs from Stafford, South Staffordshire and Lichfield.

The text of the petition reads:

Public Petition for the granting of heritage status to Cannock Chase forest
"We, the undersigned, believe that Cannock Chase shares a role in the heritage of the West Midlands that is equivalent to that of Sherwood Forest to the East Midlands, or the Forest of Dean to the Welsh borders.  We therefore request the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to acknowledge this by granting our forest and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty heritage status, so it can stand proudly alongside these other locations."
 

Copies of the Petition are now available from Aidan's MP Help Zone in Cannock, or alternatively click here to sign up online.

The cross-party letter to the Secretary of State from Staffordshire MPs calling for Herirage status:

Stop the Spaceship!

UPDATE 16TH SEPTEMBER 2011: 

Aidan Burley MP has released the following statement following the decision of Staffordshire County Council's Planning Committee to reject the proposal to build an Energy Recovery Facility at Kingswood Lakeside, Cannock.

Aidan Burley MP: "Having opposed the proposal from the very start, I am delighted that the Planning Committee has voted overwhelmingly to reject Biffa's application for a new incinerator in Cannock.

It is now clear that the previous vote on this application had been swayed by the offer of an £80,000 annual fund for community projects. That money was not related to the development, and when it was removed from the equation, councillors recognised that the negative impact of this proposal far outweighed the so-called benefits of building it.

I would like to extend my thanks to those councillors of the Conservative, UKIP and Liberal Democrat parties, who spoke so eloquently, and voted against the application in Stafford this week. They can be proud of uniting in the best interests of our community.

The decision is the right one, and I would like to pay tribute to all those people who signed the petition against the incinerator and to all the local groups who have fought tirelessly to stop this 'spaceship' of rubbish being built in our town."

UPDATE: 7th July 2011: STAFFORDSHIRE MPS CONDEMN APPROVAL OF 'SPACESHIP' CANNOCK WASTE INCINERATOR

Local Staffordshire MPs Aidan Burley (Cannock Chase) and Gavin Williamson (South Staffordshire) have issued the following joint statement:

"We are appalled that Staffordshire County Councillors have approved this planning application for a huge new incinerator in Cannock. The decision is disastrous for public health and sends out the repellent message that it is okay for Cannock to be the dumping ground of the greater West Midlands.

"We both intend to write to Cllr Philip Atkins to express the extreme disappointment of our constituents that this has been allowed to happen. What's more, the vote was tied at 4 councillors each way, and the incinerator was given the green-light by the casting vote of the Chair. How can it be right for a decision of this importance to be made with five councillors absent – and carried only because the Chair voted twice?"

Aidan added: "The people of Cannock rightly feel let down. Some are calling for judicial review of the decision: they have my full support. I am sickened that a development of this magnitude can be approved on the say-so of one out-of-touch councillor from a different part of Staffordshire. He will never be welcome in our town." 

Like many of my constituents, I am very concerned about Biffa's planning application to build a 400,000 tonne waste incinerator on the Kingwood Lakeside site in Cannock. I was shocked that this facility is even being considered, on top of the recently-approved anaerobic digestion facility, and the similar 300,000 tonne incinerator planned for Four Ashes, right on our doorstep in South Staffordshire.

I have seen the artist's impression of this building, and it would be huge: 90-metre towers, built in an elevated position, would ensure that this facility dominates the landscape. Its huge capacity would see waste lorries piling into Cannock from all over the West Midlands and North of England. In short, the incinerator would look like a spaceship full of rubbish landing in our town, and I am absolutely opposed to it.

That's why I am encouraging local residents to sign the petition against this incinerator. It's available as an e-Petition on the county Council's website, and there is a paper copy in my Cannock town centre Help Zone.

I am fighting hard to persuade the County Council to refuse planning permission for this facility. If you'd like to get in touch to discuss your views, or to be kept up to date with developments, please get in touch!

Planning Application can be found here.

E-Petition be found here.

Showing Cannock Chase is Open for Business

Cannock Chase is currently suffering from huge unemployment. It has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the UK, and the highest level of youth unemployment in the West Midlands. I believe an MP should do all he or she can to help encourage jobs and investment back to the region.

However, I do not believe that MP's can themselves 'create' jobs. In fact, many of the problems we now face are beacuse politicians created far too many public sector jobs, which were unaffordable, and are now having to be cut back. Aside from not being fair on the individuals involved, it has brought this country to the edge of bankruptcy as we are borrowing nearly £6,000 a second to pay for public sector jobs we can't afford.

We need to start living within our means. But nor can we cut our way out of recession alone. We must grow our way out - and that means private sector growth.

I think Cannock Chase is a great place for business to locate and invest. There is a lot of land, much of which as former open cast mining land is very reasonably priced. There are superb transport links, with the M6, the M6 Toll Road, the train line to Birmingham and Walsall and an International Airport close by. We need to show the business community one thing: Cannock Chase is Open For Business.

What do you think? Email me you ideas on how to bring investment back to our area: Aidan.Burley.MP@parliament.uk