Latest news with #CannockChase
BBC News
11-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Plans submitted for empty former Amazon site in Rugeley
Plans have been submitted for alterations to a former Amazon warehouse in online retail giant announced in 2023 that it had plans to relocate operations from its Power Station Road site in Rugeley to a new centre in Sutton site in Rugeley was the largest employer in the Cannock Chase district and had about 1,000 members of massive warehouse is currently vacant, and a planning application for the site has been put forward to the council by Lysander Associates Limited, a Surrey-based construction consultancy. Permission is being sought for a multi-storey car park and other site include external changes to the main building, as well as smaller support outbuildings and structures such as gatehouses and smoking and bus shelters. This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
01-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Black Country hospital car parking charges to increase
Car parking charges are to increase for visitors and patients at two Black Country NHS rise came into force on Tuesday at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton and Cannock Chase Hospital. From Monday 21 July, it will come into effect at Walsall Manor additional money raised will be put back into the trusts running the sites - Royal Wolverhampton and Walsall applied increases range from 20p to £1 depending on the length of the stay, although existing concessionary arrangements will continue, according to bosses. A stay of one, two, three and four hours will now cost £3.50, £4.50, £5 and £6 respectively - a hike, in each instance, of 20p. Stays of between four and five hours will cost £6.30, and stays of between five and seven hours will cost £7 - a respective increase of 50p and £1 compared to previous rates for those stays.A new tariff of £10 has been introduced for stays of between eight and 24 continue to be waived for anyone using the car parks for 15 minutes or fewer. Disabled parking will remain free of charge and concessionary passes are still being made available for patients undergoing regular treatment such as chemotherapy, or for parents of babies in the neonatal NHS trusts said number plate recognition systems were being used across both trusts, adding the last increase to charges was more than a year ago. Gwen Nuttall, managing director at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, said: "We appreciate any increase is going to affect people using our services and we have avoided doing this for as long as possible."But we do have to introduce these slight increases in line with other costs that are rising that the Trust has to meet."Ms Nuttall also said the trust was improving its car parks by looking at how to offer payment by app."Our teams also offer many more phone and video consultations, where appropriate, so fewer patients are having to travel and incur charges," she said."This is also having an effect on our clinics, meaning those for whom a face to face appointment is necessary are having shorter waits and report a more efficient service." Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
18-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
'Not a salad eating town': One in three obese in Walsall
"I eat the wrong food, it's the cost of it, especially for young families. Both my daughters are obese, one's 38 and one's 32, and they live on takeaways. We're working, it's quick and easy to get a takeaway."The words of one shopper in Walsall, one of three towns in the West Midlands identified as having the highest levels of obesity in the UK. Along with Cannock Chase and Tamworth, one in three in Walsall are estimated to be living with obesity, with people blaming it on the cost of healthy food, preferring the price and accessibility of fast food. Another shopper said: "There's too many food places all in one place on that high street, everywhere you look it's food, food, food. They need more healthy things and options."Another said: "I always think it's down to cost really, better food is more expensive, quite simply."The figures have been published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities using data from the Sport England Active Lives Adult list covers all upper-tier and lower-tier local authorities in England, including both district and county three West Midlands towns came out in the top 12:Cannock Chase: 37.8% of the population estimated to be obese. Tamworth: 37.4% Walsall: 36.2% Experts agree that unhealthy food and tight budgets are some of the main reasons why the region is seeing such high obesity figures. Tracey Richardson, of Wednesbury, who runs a Slimming World group in Tipton, said the trend is a "nationwide thing". "It's not shocking at all," she said. "It's time, it's convenience, they are hit with so many shops every time you walk down the high street, there is something for everyone, from your pasties to your curries. "It's all about the mindset, we can still have these things, but it's all about moderation and knowing what to choose from the menus." Personal trainer Aidan Smith, who owns MA Peformance Ltd in Walsall, talked to the BBC about how people are struggling to lose weight. Here are his top tips:Drink lots of water Go on walks Ensure half your plate is vegetables for vitamins Get a good night's sleep, between 7-8 hours Speak to a fitness professional 'Stopping junk food ads' The Department of Health & Social Care said action had already been taken to "tackle the obesity crisis"." [It has involved] stopping junk food ads being targeted at children across TV and online, which will reduce the number of people living with obesity by 20,000 and deliver health benefits to the economy worth £2 billion," a spokesperson said."We've also given local authorities stronger powers to block applications for new takeaways near schools and we are commissioning research to improve the evidence on the health impacts of ultra processed foods." Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
07-04-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Cannock Chase adders at risk as photographers try to spot them
Adders are coming out of hibernation on Cannock Chase but facing "daily disturbance" by people attempting to photograph the UK's only venomous three million people a year visit the area of outstanding natural beauty in cannot hear and are sensitive to vibrations so they usually move on before humans get close, rangers said, but they could get surprised by dogs and bite in have asked visitors to stick to the paths and keep dogs on leads. Alastair Hughes-Roden, one of the rangers, said: "A lot of the time they are quite shy and elusive, but they are quite easily prone to disturbance."Adders in general are up to about 60 to 70cm in length when fully grown, he said, with a black zigzag pattern going all the way down the said as the snakes started to appear in the spring sunshine, people had been showing rangers photographs of adders and posting them on social some of the pictures and video posts have also shown photographers leaving paths, walking through the undergrowth and crushing wildlife habitats Hughes-Roden said if snakes were out basking in the sun, they were trying to warm up to get energy, adding that walkers who disturbed them by leaving the path could push the snakes into unfavourable habitats. The Cannock Chase team said on Facebook that adders were protected by law, adding: "If you're lucky enough to spot one, enjoy watching from a distance. Photographers are encouraged to use long-lens cameras to capture close-up shots to avoid disturbing their habitat."If a dog is bitten, the advice is to seek a vet immediately. Symptoms include swelling, pain and previously said adders were facing near extinction in Britain and were a priority conservation from the University of Reading in 2019 said adders could "all but disappear from the UK countryside by 2032", and top of the list of key threats was public pressure through disturbance. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
