Oh dear. You may remember me writing that I thought we’d solved the problem of the clash of dates on June 7th - Carnival Parade and Farmers’ Market. I did explain that the proposed route was subject to approval by Highways and the police - but I never expected any objection from either. It seemed to me that the proposal we’d  come up with would actually keep the traffic flowing more easily.

Wrong! Sadly the authorities were not in favour of the route down Crown Street and the parade will therefore have to go down the least preferred option - the old route down Christchurch Way. I am very disappointed.

Last night the ballroom of the Crown Hotel was packed for the Town Mayor’s Civic Dinner. This event is almost always the last event in the civic year and allows the outgoing Mayor to reflect upon his year of office.

Philip Leason has peformed his duties with great dignity and energy. He and Edith have attended well over 100 functions and have have been great ambassadors for the town. So it was good to see them both relaxed and enjoying their night.

The speeches were short and entertaining especially Bill Cash’s pronunciation of Joules - “Jooles”! I don’t think he’ll make that mistake again! Winston Leese responded to the toast of “The Guests” and endorsed his reputation as a very amusing and interesting speaker. I seriously am not being political but I roared when Winston managed to weave The Treaty of Lisbon and the R word - Referendum - into a remark about Stone whilst addressing his comments to Bill!

And a little bird tells me that the raffle and a Heads and Tails collection has raised a very tidy sum for the Mayors Charities. Congratulations Phillip and Edith.

The following applications relate to properties within Stonefield and Christchurch ward. For further details contact the Planning Officer at Stafford Borough Council, 3rd Floor, Civic Centre, Riverside, Stafford ST16 3AQ or telephone 01785 619337 quoting the application number.

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Application Number: 08/09637/OUT           Type of Application:Outline

Date registered: 23 April 2008                 Applicant: Cheryl Maguire

Location:  51 Alexander Street, Stone

Proposal: Renewal of outline planning permission 03985 for residential development

Case Officer: Mrs K Wilson

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Application Number: 08/10152/FUL           Type of Application:Full

Date registered: 1 May 2008                 Applicant: Mr J Kelly

Location:  3 Cedar Park, Lichfield Road, Stone

Proposal: Single storey extension to rear

Case Officer: Ms T Brown

Last night Stone’s Youth Cafe, The Den, was opened up for inspection by the grown ups - especially those who had helped to make it happen! And that’s why it was so full by eight o’clock! The support from the local community has been quite amazing and this was the young folks chance to say ‘Thank You’ and to show off the hard work that they have put in to create a wonderful venue.

A team of young folk worked tirelessly behind the bar providing an endless supply of teas, coffees and refreshments whilst further refreshments had to be laid out in the adjacent St Michael’s suite. Everyone was impressed by the work that has been carried out and I’m sure the Den is going to become a valuable asset for the young folk in the town.

And there was one surprise! The Town Mayor, Philip Leason, used his short speech as the opportunity to present a very special award to PC Andy Whitehall. I’ve mentioned Andy often on this site so I don’t need to repeat how respected this guy is in the town. So much so that Philip decided that rather than present a Town Council Merit Plate to Andy in the Council Chamber it would be far more appropriate to make the presentation in front of the young folk. It was a fitting tribute and warmly applauded by everyone present.

As Chairman of the Food and Drink Festival, I get quite a few tough assignments - and yesterday was no exception! Together with Jill Hood and Pam Graham I had to endure a visit to a factory making - wait for it - hand made chocolates! Now I’ve been on a diet for over two months and not one piece of chocolate has passed my lips - but I have to admit that I failed badly yesterday!

We had driven down to Bridgnorth where we met Louis Barnett, an amazing 16 year old, who had started making chocolate in his parent’s garage at the age of 14. He appeared on several TV programmes and now, two years on, Louis heads a team which includes his mum and dad, producing the most delicious and beautiful chocolates in a small industrial unit which already is bursting at the seams. Louis is dyslexic so it is no coincidence that the company is called Chokolit!

We went to persuade Louis to come to the Food and Drink Festival and to demonstrate how hand made chocolate are made. I think we achieved our objective but more importantly, I think we also persuaded him to let us find an outlet here in North Staffordshire for him to stock his products! It’s a fair way to Bridgnorth every time we want to buy some! So I’m going to speak to a contact of mine in the hope that Louis’ delights will be available much nearer to home!

I was a little apprehensive when I decided to arrange a meeting in the Station to see if there would be any support for my idea of forming a Friends of Stone Station group. Did any other people share my views on supporting the new service when it starts, hopefully, in December? Were there people who might volunteer to do a bit of weeding, planting, painting and cleaning - to make sure our station was attractive to potential customers? Were there any offers to deliver mini time tables and flyers to publicise the service? Or would I be the only one to turn up?

Well - I needn’t have worried! There were a couple of cars already outside the station last night when I arrived half an hour early and by the time we started the room was full and we were having to bring in extra chairs! Yes, there are people in Stone ( and surrounds) who feel as strongly as I do!

So after a very full and useful discussion it was agreed that a Friends group should be formed and that another meeting would be held in a couple of months to agree the formal structure and to formulate a plan of action.

Based on the interest and enthusiasm shown at this meeting I have no doubt that Friends of Stone Station is going to be a very active and succesful group.

I’m getting really excited about the professional cycle race - Circuits de Stone - that is taking place on Wednesday June 18th. The British Cycling Federation is organising the one hour and five lap race and national and international cyclists have already signed up.

I don’t know much about pro cycling but I can recognise the potential for a good street  party when I see it! So following a meeting yesterday with several licencees, I was delighted to hear from David Turner, our Town Clerk, that Highways had agreed to the road closures around the town continuing until 10.30 pm. We anticipate that several thousands spectators will descend upon the town and it is therefore important from a Health and Safety point of view that the roads are cleared before traffic is allowed back through the town.

The upside is that four businesses around Granville Square - The Blue Rooms, The Crown and Anchor, Granvilles and The Post of Stone - can now go ahead with their plan to create an open air ‘party area’ in Granville Square including a raised stage for live entertainment! And I know that Custodio at The Lounge is also planning something special! I’m going to be spoilt for choice. What a night it’s going to be!

Thank goodness we have found a solution to what was threatening to become a major problem. The Stone Festival parade traditionally takes place on the last Saturday of the Festival week and this year that falls on June 7th. Stone Farmers’ Market always takes place on the first Saturday of the month which in June just happens to be - June 7th.

The old tradition of the parade moving down the High Street was revived a couple of years ago and the Festival organisers were hoping that the Farmers’ Market stalls could be moved or relocated to enable the parade to use the High Street. We looked at various possible solutions but none was a practical option. We had therfore reached an impasse so David Turner arranged a meeting yesterday for all the interested parties to see if there was a way forward.

And eventually, after a very full and useful discussion, I came up with a suggestion which everyone agreed seemed to solve the problem. The Farmers’ Market stalls will remain in their usual positions. The parade will leave ABB car park as usual but will continue down Radford Street into Granville Square then out along Newcastle Street and down Crown Street to Westbridge Park. Shoppers and interested onlookers will get a good view of the parade from the top of the High Street and there will be plenty of good viewing points along Crown Street. We still have to clear the plans with the Highways Department and the police but I’m sure they will have no objections.

The Bonfire and Firework Committee met last night for the Annual General meeting and all serving officers were re-elected. That means that I am proud to be Chairman of the most amazing committee for yet another year. I am so impressed by the dedication and eficiency of all involved - the show almost runs itself!

Last year’s event was a great success and £7000 was distributed amongst the clubs and groups who involved themselves in the organisation of the bonfire and fireworks. Stone’s Bonfire has become a major attraction in the calendar of town events and this year’s event promises to live up to expectations.

The theme this year will be ‘Pirates’ - and the bonfire builders and fireworks display team have revealed that they have got a few tricks up their sleeves! And the good news is that, yet again, the entrance prices are being held at last year’s levels even though a larger budget has been approved for the firework display! Now that’s really “more bangs” for the same money!

The following applications relate to properties within Stonefield and Christchurch ward. For further details contact the Planning Officer at Stafford Borough Council, 3rd Floor, Civic Centre, Riverside, Stafford ST16 3AQ or telephone 01785 619337 quoting the application number.

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There were no planning applications submitted for the ward this week.

Janet is very patient with me. I’m sure she thought that once I had fully retired we’d spend time doing what normal retired people do! Gardening, days out walking in Derbyshire and going off in the caravan at weekends. Little did she realise that when I became a local politician and an organiser of a food and drink festival I would have even less time at home than when I was working!

So when a friend of ours suggested that we have a caravanning weekend together I immediately said “Yes” and looked forward to a couple of nights and three days away from it all. So on Friday we hitched up and went down to Tewkesbury. We’ve had a super weekend and I have to admit that I’ve been able to forget Stone problems for a bit!

But on looking at my emails on getting home today, I see that I received an important and urgent email from Libdem headquarters last Friday evening. It concerned the forthcoming by- election which will soon be held in Crewe and Nantwich following the death last week of  Gwenneth Dunwoody, the Labour MP. Unfortunately, I opened the email half an hour after the deadline for replies. That’ll teach me to take a weekend off to go eating, drinking and enjoying myself.

The thorny old problem of traffic using Stone’s High Street was raised again during last night’s Council meeting. Let’s get it absolutely clear - legally no traffic is allowed down the High Street at any time unless they have a permit, are delivering heavy goods to premises with no rear access or are transporting large quatities of cash ie security vans.

But the signs are so confusing and the police are never around to issue tickets. So everyone assumes that when the bollards are removed at four o’clock anyone can use the street. There was a suggestion last year that rising bollards be installed so that the street would be closed 24/7 except to permitted users but I suspect that the costs are going to prove prohibitive. We have also tried to persuade the police to have a blitz on issuing tickets but, again, it’s a question of resources.

In the meantime, I suggested that we should see if Highways could come up with a better and clearer sign. Whilst a lot of people will always deliberatly flaunt the rules, there are many who genuinely do not understand the restrictions.  A clearer sign might go someway to help.

Last night’s Council meeting agreed upon the nominations for the new Town Mayor and Deputy Mayor. The Civic Year runs from May to the following April so the current Mayor, Cllr. Phillip Leason, will hand over the chain of office to the new Mayor on May 13th.

On that date, Cllr. Mark Green will be elected Mayor. Mark is well known in the town having been landlord at several town centre pubs and finally at The Rising Sun before he retired a couple of years ago. Elected to the council last year, Mark has been a tireless councillor - in fact I think he has attended every meeting without fail. He has also been the first to volunteer for any ‘extra duties’ and has also given very freely of his time to Age Concern. He will make an excellent Town Mayor and I extend my congratulations and best wishes to him and Kristen.

It was also agreed that Cllr. Jill Hood be nominated as Deputy Mayor. This nomination gives me particular pleasure because Jill thoroughly deserves it. Jill is a fantastic advert for Stone. Involved in so many projects, her bubbly enthusiasm is contagious. It’s no surprise that Jill has been heavily involved in the setting up of the Den and this year’s Music Festival and is also chairman of the Tourism and Town Promotion Committee responsible for this year’s Bike Race. Yes, if you want something done give it to a busy person! Jill will be a superb Deputy Mayor.

Congratulations to Mark and Jill.

Yesterday Stone’s Youth Cafe, the Den, was officially opened for business. Local police officer Andy Whitehall had been invited by the young folk to perform the official opening ceremony - a fact which speaks volumes for the high esteem and respect that Andy holds amongst the youngsters.

Over the last few weeks the Walton Suite in the Frank Jordan Centre has been transformed into the Den. Building works and the forming of the cafe bar has been carried out by builders and joiners but most of the refurbishment and decoration has been done by the young folk themselves. It is a fantastic venue and I have no doubts at all about its future. I’m convinced that the kids are going to make the venture a great success. Congratulations to everyone involved!

The following applications relate to properties within Stonefield and Christchurch ward. For further details contact the Planning Officer at Stafford Borough Council, 3rd Floor, Civic Centre, Riverside, Stafford ST16 3AQ or telephone 01785 619337 quoting the application number.

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Application Number: 08/09955/FUL           Type of Application:Full

Date registered: 4 April 2008                 Applicant: Bryan Fletcher

Location:  Stone Lawn Tennis and Squash Club, Newcastle Road, Stone

Proposal: Remove existing lanterns from tennis court flood lighting columns. Reduce height of columns to accomodate new Advantage flood lights at a height of 6.7 m above court level. The new luminaires will be low profile units with reduced glare and lihjt spillage.

Case Officer: Mr. J Dolman

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Application Number: 08/10062/FUL           Type of Application: Full

Date registered: 9 April 2008                 Applicant: Mr Mark Holland

Location:  Plot 7a Whitebridge Industrial Estate, Stone

Proposal: Erection of detached B2/B8 unit with associated drainage, services parking and site works.

Case Officer: Mr J Dolman

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Application Number: 08/10100/FUL           Type of Application:Full

Date registered: 4 April 2008                 Applicant: Robert G Jones

Location:  29 Granville Terrace, Stone

Proposal: Re-instate metal railings to front and side of house

Case Officer: Mrs K Wilson

Every morning I log on to the Into Stone website just to see what’s going on and to keep up to date with topics on the Forum. The other day I came across a posting from a Stone resident who has insatlled a webcam into a blue tits nest in his garden and is transmitting live pictures of the birds building their nest.

A real gem! Take a look at the site here to see the latest pictures and for details of how the camera was set up.

On Friday  Janet and I thoroughly enjoyed the BBC Philarmonic Orchestra concert in the Victoria Hall in Hanley. We have season tickets and have sat in the same seats for years. We really are so lucky in this area. The Stoke Festival season brings orchestras such as the BBC, the CBSO and the Halle to Hanley on a regular basis - culture on our doorstep!

The Victoria Hall was, of course, refurbished at considerable expense some years ago and is now an outstanding venue. Sir Malcolm Sargent was heard to say that it was his favourite venue and Sir Adrian Boult reckoned on it having the best accoustics of any hall he’d played. So it was with interest that yesterday Jan and I caught a bus and train to Birmingham to see another recently refurbished concert hall, Birmingham Town Hall. Jan’s nephew James, aged 13, was playing trumpet the National Childrens Orchestra. Wow! What a hall and what a concert!

I don’t know how much has been spent on the renovation but they have created a marvellous hall. This is a far cry from the hall I remember from the 60’s - Chris Barber, Lonnie Donnegan et al!

But it was the orchestra that took my breath away. Over a hundred children playing a full classical venue. James is only 13 and the maximum age was 14 - but on closing your eyes you’d be hard pressed to spot the difference between them and a full time professional orchestra. Seriously, if you ever get the chance to hear them - go!

(And just in case you wondering - public transport turned up trumps again! I’ve already praised the 101 bus and trains to Birmingham before and they didn’t let us down yesterday either! Stafford to Birmingham in 32 minutes for £7.90 return!)

It’s a hard life but someone has to do it! First of all, Jill Hood and I had to head off to The George at Eccleshall but this was purely on business. We had been invited over to meet a group of people who are trying to set up a committee to promote Eccleshall and they thought we might be able to give them some tips and advice. It was interesting to talk with them and to learn that they are encountering the same sort of issues and queries that we have had to deal with here in Stone. I’m not too sure we were able to help them very much but they seemed very grateful for the chat.

Then it was up to The Brushmaker’s Arms at Oulton to join a group of ‘Brush afficienados’ to celebrate the CAMRA award of the title of Pub of the Month. In my book, the pub deserves a permanent award - it’s one of the last remaining old fashioned pubs. Quarry tile floor, scrubbed tables, no juke box or gaming machines and fantastic real ales. Being a free house the guest ales keep changing at regular intervals and are kept superbly. And on top of all that, Mark and Dianne are such excellent hosts. What more could you ask for? Congratulations to them both.

A couple of weeks ago Christine Conlin,  from the Stone and Ecceshall Gazette, called me and asked if she could do an article about my sponsored slim. We agreed to meet and I answered all her questions. When the interview was over she whipped out her camera and asked for a photograph. She suggested that, because I was raising funds for Andy Whitehall’s boxing club, it might make a better photo if we could devise a boxing theme.

So we went over to Westbridge Park Sports Hall and borrowed some of their boxing gloves. But then Christine suggested “Off with your kit!” At my age I don’t get requests like that too often - so off came the shirt and the photos were taken!

Oh dear! Has it caused a stir! The magazine dropped through letter boxes over the weekend and I can hardly walk a yard in town before being accosted with a suitably appropriate comment! It’s all good fun, though, and if it has helped to highlight the fantastic work Andy is doing with the young folk of the town then I’ve no regrets!

Over the last few years, Jill Hood and I have visited Ludlow on several occasions to pick up tips for the Food and Drink Festival and today we set off again on our familiar journey. The purpose, this time, was to attend a seminar organised by Graham Perkins, former Vice Chair of the Ludlow Food Festival and who now runs a company called Skillbuilders.

The great benefit of theses types of event is the networking that takes place with other people and organisations involved in similar activities to ours. So we made some very useful contacts indeed - a lady who runs a Beer Shop in Ludlow; the organiser of another Food Festival in Shropshire; a representative of the The Prince’s Trust and a member of the staff at Companies House.

But the most interesting part of the day was left to the end. A guided tour ‘behind the scenes’ at the venue for the seminar - the Ludlow Food Centre. Only opened a year ago, this purpose built centre promotes local food. A large food hall supplies all manner of locally sourced produce. But for me the most interesting part of the tour was to take a look at the workshops which the ordinary visitor can view through large windows in the shop. We were shown the bakery, the butchers shop and the two large meat stores, the cheese and butter making dairy, the coffee roasting workshop, the pickle and jam kitchen and the general store room.

If you are ever down that way do call in. It’s a fascinating place.

The following applications relate to properties within Stonefield and Christchurch ward. For further details contact the Planning Officer at Stafford Borough Council, 3rd Floor, Civic Centre, Riverside, Stafford ST16 3AQ or telephone 01785 619337 quoting the application number.

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No planning applications in Stonefield and Christchurch ward were submitted during this week.

I think my Farmers’ Market boast still stands! I have claimed for almost three years that we have never had rain on a Farmers’ Market day in Stone. We came very close yesterday though. I am going to admit that early on we did have a couple of showers of drizzle but I don’t accept it was proper rain! And it only lasted a few minutes each time and soon the blue skies came back.

Anyway, the crowds of shoppers still turned up and everyone seemed to enjoy another packed High Street. And I was delighted to see a new stall exclusivley selling cheeses. It seemed to be doing excellent trade so hopefully we shall see it back next month.

And don’t tell me the Farmers’ Market takes business away from the local shops. I heard today how much a local shop’s takings increase on a Farmers’ Market day. They’d have one every week if we could arrange it!

Yesterday afternoon I spent a very interesting hour or so with the working group which has been formed by the Town Council to decide upon the way to create a wildflower meadow on Crown Meadow.

We’ve had the meadow inspected by an expert who has recommended that we create ’scrapes’ and sow or plant wildflowers that thrive in damp and boggy conditions around the edges. We had to decide how to do the job. We could simply buy seed and scatter it hoping that some of it would germinate. Or we could buy lifted ‘clumps’ or, better still, pot grown specimens. Obviously there is quite a diference in costs so we decided to make some more enquiries particularly with regard to coverage.

We then became engaged in a lengthy debate about the ethics of planting a fritillary meadow. This had been suggested at an earlier stage but when we were told that fratilleries did not exist in their natural state as far north as Stone the majority of the group thought that to plant them on Crown Meadow would create an artificial environment. So fratillaries will remain in gardens and only idiginous wild flowers will be seen on Crown Meadow.

It is hoped that work on the scrapes can be completed in time to sow and plant later in the season.

I’d never been to a book launch before this year and last night I went to my second in a month! A month or so ago I attended Peter Holland’s launch of a book of poetry. Last night’s affair was very different! Somehow (and I’m still not sure how!) Dave Smithwick had managed to arrange for Stone to host the launch of Tommy Smith’s autobiography entitled ‘Anfield Iron’. And not only did the Liverpool legend Tommy turn up but we also had three other football legends to entertain us - Ian Callaghan, Terry Conroy and Joey Jones.

There was a full house in the The Crown Hotel ballroom and after an excellent meal we were entertained to some wonderful stories and jokes about players and managers to the point where my sides were becoming painful.

I have a suspicion we may see some of these speakers back again - and if one of them is Joey Jones I’ll be first in the queue for tickets!

The tow path improvement scheme is nearly completed and yesterday I noticed workmen on the other side of the canal as I was parking on Crown Street car park. I popped over and had a chat. They were just finishing a short section of path to join Trent Close and the towpath and they assured me that they would also be lowering the kerb.

This short path is important because it will allow disabled access to the tow path from Trent Close and Crown Meadow. Last year the Town Council installed the bridge into Crown Meadow by the river - so there will now be a through path right to the picnic tables outside the Star!

And today I’ve just been down again to check and the job’s complete - including the dropped kerb!

My comments about Radford Street were picked up by the Stafford Post and used for a front page article last week. Several people have stopped me to sympathise with the traders and to lend support to a campaign to try and raise the profile of Radford Street and its shops and businesses. I have agreed to talk again to one gentleman next week to see what we can up with.

In the meantime, I have some good news! The old Co-op building at the end Kings Avenue has been in a disgraceful condition for years. It was boarded up about five years ago when planning permission was grant for conversion to apartments and offices.  Although some work started, it’s been dreadfully slow and the hoardings have been the target for graffiti on numerous occasions. Indeed last summer a group of us independent councillors spent a Sunday morning painting the boards to cover up some particularly offensive graffiti.

However, the pace of the conversion work speeded up some months ago and over the last few weeks new windows have been installed. Today I stopped and spoke to the workmen and was told that all the apartments should be finished in about four weeks and the two shop units shoulsd be ready in six weeks. And from what I could see of what was going on behingd the hoardings they are doing a very good job indeed.

This iconic building could soon be an asset in the street. I can’t wait to see it without it’s cladding!

Yesterday I received a telephone message from a near neighbour inviting me up the road to see a peacock that had arrived in her garden. Having listened to Radio 4’s Breakfast programme telling the story of the RSPB ‘repatriating’ over staying summer visitors by providing members with bird traps and having been told of BBC television’s film of flying penguins, I assumed that my neighbour was also playing an avian April Fool joke on me!

Today I’ve discovered that she genuinely did have a peacock in her garden! Apparantly it had been around for two days and had found a cozy corner next to her house to roost overnight. After she had called the police, the Borough Council and the RSPCA to no avail, she eventually heard that the trout farm on the Longton Road kept a peacock! A quick phone call and a very relieved trout farmer owner was soon up Nicholls Lane to reclaim the rather subdued escapee!

I stood on the scales this morning and I’m delighted to announce that I now weigh 14 stone 1 pound! Yes, I’ve lossed two stone and two stones in the last two months and have therefore exceeded the target of my sponsored slim. When I started the slim in aid of PC Andy Whitehall’s boxing project for the young folk, The Right Stuff, I was sixteen stone three and, I must confess, I did wonder whether I was being a bit ambitious in promising to lose two stones in two months.

However I’ve found the secret for anyone wanting to lose weight! Tell everybody what you’re doing and go public in the biggest way possible! I think everyone in Stone has heard about my sponsored slim! I just couldn’t be seen to fail, could I?

And thanks to so many generous sponsors I expect to be handing over almost £400 to Andy in the next few days for him to buy more equipment for The Right Stuff. Thanks to everyone for their generosity. It’s still not too late to contribute!