18.11.22 – Investment at Stoke on Trent College, Cannabis Plants in NUL, Vandalism at Berryhill Park, Local Football

Stoke on Trent College has been successful in securing over £13m for 2 new state of the art buildings and transformation of their estate, as part of their exciting new plans which will see significant investment in both their Cauldon and Burslem Campuses.

The College has been successful in securing this funding from the Government’s Further Education Capital Transformation, T Level Capital and the Strategic Development funding schemes.

As well as providing future-proofed, modern campus buildings which optimise space utilisation and refreshed landscapes, the proposed developments will also create an accessible, welcoming and engaging environment to better connect the College with the wider community and make a positive difference to the Shelton and Burslem environments.

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A man has been arrested after Police found more than 180 cannabis plants inside an address in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

We acted on intelligence and forced entry into an address in Whitmore at 11.55am on Tuesday (15 November).

We found 182 mature cannabis plants inside five separate rooms which were seized along with growing equipment.

A 29-year-old man, from Merseyside, was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of a controlled drug of class B.

He has since been released under investigation while inquiries continue.

Anyone with any information which can help us with our investigation is asked to get in touch.

Contact us on Facebook, Twitter, or call 101, quoting incident 274 of 15 November.

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Following reports of vandalism at the children’s park on Berryhill Fields, near Pillar Close, the site has been inspected and the area has been declared unsafe and closed to the public with immediate effect.

This is one of two play areas that has been damaged to the point of closure, in three months.

The safety surface at Berryhill Fields Park has been ripped up, leaving exposed rock and an uneven surface.

Annually, Stoke-on-Trent City Council repair £35k worth of play equipment across the city that is the victim of mindless acts of vandalism.

Councillor Carl Edwards, cabinet member for environment and housing said:

“This cannot continue. I cannot fathom why anyone would want to ruin a children’s play area. We should be proud of our green spaces, we have some beautiful parks. This will be another waste of taxpayers’ money, money that I would rather see being spent on much-needed services across the city, not being spent repairing mindless acts of vandalism.”

Council teams are looking into further deterrents to help tackle anti-social behaviour.

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In local sport this weekend … Port Vale are hosting Charlton at Vale Park and Crewe Alexandra are travelling to take on Swindon Town.  In local non-League Football our three local sides are at home this weekend Newcastle Town are facing Ramsbottom united, Kidsgrove Athletic are taking on Clitheroe and Hanley Town are facing Prescott Cables.

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