Improvements

We realised that we needed to lift the profile of the town to cement good relations with people who play a key role in the town, such as traders and businesses, the police, community voluntary groups, Streetscene and residents from a wider area than the town itself. We have increased visitor numbers to the town and this has had a knock-on effect with trade and given that boost to the local economy. More businesses employ local people and local people spend locally, which is good news for Stone. We have built productive relationships with businesses in town and the High St has a good occupancy rate and there is nothing wrong with charity shops providing a service and sometimes a lifeline to some people.

We worked on the Stone Neighbourhood Plan for nearly two years and one objective of the plan is to protect the town's green spaces and to ensure that future development is controlled in such a way as to benefit the town and its residents. The Plan has been adopted is giving the town influence in the direction of development and the protection of its green.

We have strongly supported better leisure and play facilities throughout the town. Although we have opposed the selling off of green space for development, we have championed improvements to leisure facilities on Westbridge Park but believe it should be paid for out of our local taxes.

Our councillors were heavily involved with Joules in the development of Crown Wharf with its pub and theatre and Heritage Visitor Centre in the old Fire Station. The pub is trading and the theatre and visitor centre are expected to open in 2023.

We were instrumental in introducing an event calendar, business directory and town centre map and improved street furniture, notice boards and finger posts.

Stone Independent councillors are active supporters of many local charities and voluntary organisations including: Stone in Bloom, Age Concern, Rotary, Lions, Stone Community Hub, Royal British Legion, Royal Air Force Association, Stone Railhead Crisis Group. Stone in Bloom, in particular, is a group whose purpose is to improve the appearance of the town to make it attractive to residents and visitors through cleaning up the town and introducing floral displays. The group has successfully won awards for its work over several years. We also work with Streetscene the borough department responsible for keeping the place tidy, often directing them to areas requiring work.

We have acted as a voice for Stone residents in dealings with Borough and County authorities.

We have provided grants to deserving charitable and community organisations.

We have made cost effective investments while controlling the annual Town Council tax bill.

Stone independent councillors also attend other groups such as: Stone Area Parish Liaison Group, Stone ATC, Age Concern Stone and District, Stafford and District Access Group, Stone Common Plot Trustees, Stone Community Hub Liaison Group, Stone Traders' Group.

Stone independent councillors were responsible for drafting and implementing an Environment Policy within the council and contribute to the Stafford Borough Environment Panel.

Events

In 2018, Stone held the first St George’s Day celebration in the Market Square, a free event which brought hundreds of families to the town. It was a great day and will be repeated.

We continue to support the ever-popular annual Christmas Light Switch On event. 

The annual Music Festival is a free event which brings in many families to the town and involves most of the Stone Schools.

Stone by the Sea was a new event in 2018 which saw the Market Square turned into a beach. There were fairground attractions and donkey rides and will definitely be repeated.

The Classic Car festival saw many people, some of whom have never been to Stone before, come in to view almost 60 vintage and veteran cars exhibited by (mostly) local people.

Stone is a canal market town and holds a Farmers’ Market every first Saturday (except January) which is always popular and draws visitors to the town. There are also a number of late-night shopping events which are becoming popular with the support of extra market stalls. A traders’ group has been formed with our support. We intend to continue to make Stone a tourist destination town.

Stone hosts one of the major Food and Drink festivals in the midlands and, indeed, the country. We support this major attraction and work to protect the venue and to ensure that it will continue to draw visitors and investment into the town.

And of course we have supported the Stone Festival and carnival which has been a traditional and long standing summer event in the town calendar.

Campaigns

We are trying to get Stafford Borough to implement the Community Development Charge in place of Section 106 moneys. CDC ensures that 25% of the funds raised goes to the community affected as opposed to being within the borough council’s control. The CDC is the government’s best practice and our estimate is that £1 million, at least, of moneys, that could have passed to Stone to determine its best use, has been controlled by Stafford since CDCs were introduced elsewhere.

We have responded to residents' concerns by opposing the siting of the proposed HS2 railhead on Yarnfield Lane and have supported the Swynnerton Action group and have petitioned Parliament on this matter. It will threaten the safety of residents in many ways and the town’s livelihood and the destruction of the environment and wildlife. 

The "splitter island" on the junction of High St, Christchurch Way and Lichfield St was introduced to alleviate issues with two lanes of traffic merging to proceed towards Walton roundabout. It immediately caused and is continuing to cause major congestion along Christchurch Way and particularly for traffic exiting Morrison's car park. It is also an eyesore and does not drain when it rains. It also has stopped events such as the carnival parade proceeding down the High St. It also causes major safety issues where large lorries delivering to the north of the High St, reverse across the Longton Rd to leave the town in a northerly direction. We have campaigned to get this traffic feature removed against opposition from the county council.

We continually work towards getting the best deal for the Stone leisure project particularly in Westbridge Park and are applying pressure to get fantastic play areas and other facilities for our youngsters.

We were instrumental in setting up liaison meetings with neighbouring parishes to better influence the borough council in decisions affecting the borough outside of Stafford itself.