Weekly News

12 Dec 2022

What’s on

Festive events across the district

Traditional Victorian Fair

Enjoy a Christmas fair from years gone by in Penkridge this evening (Friday).

Running from 4 till 8pm in Market Place, Market Street and Crown Bridge, the Traditional Victorian Fair will include stalls, costumes, performances from a choir, fairground rides, face painting, and a Santa’s grotto.

Enchanted Weston

The forest at Weston Park will be illuminated, as guests follow the woodland trail.

The event will also feature street food, drinks, live music, and fire pits on which guests can toast marshmallows.

It takes place from December 9th – 11th and 15th – 23rd.

Tickets must be booked in advance – for more information, click here

South Staffordshire Council’s Environmental Health and Licensing Team has worked with the organisers, with a view to helping them deliver a safe and successful event.

Magical Christmas Portal

Take a magical trip to the home of Father Christmas at this Himley Hall event.

Set in the courtyard, guests will be invited to take their seats upon arrival ready to be whisked off to the North Pole, where little ones can interact with Santa.

This event takes place from December 14th to 18th at 7.30pm.

For more information, click here

Council and district news

Local Plan Review

There are just two weeks to go until the deadline for comments to be made to the Publication Plan consultation.

Your comments should be made in writing and the simplest way is to use our online consultation portal.

You can make comments direct to different parts of the plan and there are prompts to guide you through the system.

We have also produced a step-by-step guide to help. Visit Local Plan Consultation South Staffordshire Council (sstaffs.gov.uk) for more information.

You can also email your comments or post to South Staffordshire Council, Community Hub, Wolverhampton Road, Codsall, WV8 1PX. Remember your comments much reach us by 12 noon on Friday, December 23^rd, 2022.

We have one more online Q&A session scheduled for Wednesday, December 14^th, focussing on the north of the district. This covers Penkridge, Huntington and the land proposed south of Stafford.

Anyone can join, there is no need to register and the link for the meeting can be found here: Publication Plan Public Engagement South Staffordshire Council (sstaffs.gov.uk)

If you missed our earlier sessions, it’s not a problem, just join next week’s meeting, wherever you live and whatever village you want to know more about.

We’ve made it really easy to view the plan and supporting documents online. Just go to the main page of the council website, click on the consultation banner at the top of the page and it takes you straight to the consultation page. Here you can view the plan itself, or read the FAQs, Local Plan summary, guidance note for making comments, or response form and there are links to our consultation events and the supporting evidence.

Hard copies of the documents are also available at parish council offices and libraries in the district, and at the Community Hub in Codsall.

This is the final stage of consultation before the new Local Plan is submitted to the Government and an independent planning inspector is appointed to carry out a public examination into whether it is sound and legally compliant.

The Publication Plan, FAQs and supporting documents can be found here: Local Plan Review Publication Plan South Staffordshire Council (sstaffs.gov.uk)

All comments made to the plan must be made in writing, and during the 6-week consultation period. For more information see the council website www.sstaffs.gov.uk/localplanreview or email localplans@sstaffs.gov.uk

Cold weather warning

The Met Office and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) are warning that all regions of England will experience severe cold weather starting this evening.

With low temperatures and potentially severe overnight frosts forecast, the UKHSA is encouraging people to stay warm and look out for those most at risk from the effects of cold weather.

Find out more here

Play the Census 2021 quiz:

How well do you know your area?

See how well you know the population of your local authority area with this interactive quiz.

Go to the following link, enter South Staffordshire in the search box, then answer the questions to see how much you know about the district.

Take the quiz via this link

Help us to aid rough sleepers

With colder nights starting to set in, it more important that ever that those found to be sleeping rough in South Staffordshire receive help with finding a warm place to stay.

Below are details to notify the Councils Housing Team of anyone you are made aware of sleeping rough, to ensure they receive the support they need:

Housing team contact information in work hours:

Email: Homes@sstaffs.gov.uk

Tel: 01902 696504 (Customer Services will take information and pass back to the team to prioritise and action)

Members of the team are on a rota to monitor emails and call backs throughout the working day to prioritise and action.

Out of hours emergency contact number:

Tel: 01384 679027

This service is delivered by our contracted provider. They are able to deal with most type of homeless issues. However, if they are unable to resolve, a member of the team is also on call to help to resolve more complex issue outside of office hours.

Further information on housing advice and how we can support those who are homeless can be found on the councils website Housing Advice & Homelessness Service South Staffordshire Council (sstaffs.gov.uk)

Waste and Recycling Christmas Collections

December 2022 – January 2023

Garden waste

Garden waste collections have now finished for four weeks (two collections) between Monday, December 12th, 2022, and Friday, January 6th, 2023.

Collections will resume on Monday, January 9th, 2023 for all current subscribers.

During the garden waste collection break, you can present your grey bin for collection every week.

Click here to view your bin calendar online

Bank holiday

There are changes to your waste and recycling collections due to the Boxing Day bank holiday.

There will be no collections on Monday December 26th. All collections will be one day later than normal for that week only.

Find out more about festive bin collections via this link

Treecycle

Real Christmas trees will be collected on your first garden waste collection in the new year (between Monday, January 9th and Friday, January 20th).

No need to book, just put your real tree out next to your green bin on your normal collection day.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Waste and Recycling Team.

Council job vacancies

Environmental Health Officer (Housing Lead), closing on December 12th.
Benefit Assessment Officers, closing on December 9th.

All vacancies can be viewed in full and applied for on our new recruitment site: https://www.sstaffs.gov.uk/vacancies

Leisure latest

Penkridge Leisure Centre: Further upgrades

Penkridge Leisure Centre’s gym will be temporarily closed from Monday, December 12^th whilst work is carried out on the air conditioning and to raise the ceiling.

This work is not only being done to further improve the facility, but to also allow the leisure centre to add additional pieces of gym kit including the Pulse Fitness Stairmaster and functional rig.

The facility is planned to re-open for use from Wednesday, December 28^th.

For more information email Penkridge@sstaffs.gov.uk or call 01785 714152.

Leisure centre member rewards

South Staffordshire Council’s leisure centres are rewarding members this month with daily rewards announced between December 13^th and 24^th.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank leisure centre members for their ongoing support and loyalty and wish everyone the best of luck.

Free holiday food and activities for kids

Codsall and Wombourne Leisure Centres will be holding Aspire Active Camps for young people aged 5-14 years old.

The Active Camps will be on offer at Cheslyn Hay Leisure Centre from Monday, December 19^th to Thursday, December 22^nd.

The camps at Penkridge Leisure Centre will be available from Tuesday, December 20^th to Friday, December 23^rd.

For more information and to book visit https://www.aspire-sports.co.uk/active-camps

People in receipt of free school meals are also eligible to free active camps and hot food parcels which will be available Monday to Thursday at Cheslyn Hay, Codsall and Wombourne; this scheme will be available at Penkridge Leisure Centre from Tuesday to Friday.

Registration for the free camps and hot food is now open.

For more information visit https://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Education/Educational-awards-benefits/Holiday-activities-and-food/Holiday-Activities-and-Food.aspx?Rating=3

Leisure centre Christmas opening times

For Christmas opening times at South Staffordshire Council’s leisure centres, visit https://www.sstaffs.gov.uk/leisure/leisure-centres-opening-times.cfm

Baggeridge Country Park visitor survey

Let us know what you think of Baggeridge Country Park and help us to improve the facilities and services on offer.

By completing this short survey, you can choose to be entered into a draw to win one of two annual parking passes.

Take part in the survey here

Partnership updates

UKHSA update on scarlet fever and invasive Group A strep

The latest data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows that scarlet fever cases continue to remain higher than typical at this time of year.

Scarlet fever is usually a mild illness, but it is highly infectious. Therefore, look out for symptoms in your child, which include a sore throat, headache, and fever, along with a fine, pinkish or red body rash with a sandpapery feel.

On darker skin, the rash can be more difficult to detect visually but will have a sandpapery feel.

Contact NHS 111 or your GP if you suspect your child has scarlet fever, because early treatment of scarlet fever with antibiotics is important to reduce the risk of complications such as pneumonia or a bloodstream infection.

If your child has scarlet fever, keep them at home until at least 24 hours after the start of antibiotic treatment to avoid spreading the infection to others.