Latest news with #RichardOverton
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Council's housing firm sees profits rise by 18%
A council-owned housing company has seen its profits rise by 18% in the last year. The profits allowed Labour-run Telford and Wrekin Council to put an extra £302,000 into its budget, a meeting was told. Since Nuplace was formed in 2015 the council has built 608 homes, with a further 276 planned or in delivery. Conservative councillor Rachael Tyrrell said she was supportive of the provision of homes, but added: "The rental yield is well below par." She pointed out the council had spent £93m on the company over the last 10 years. Richard Overton, the Labour councillor responsible for housing, said creating Nuplace in 2015 had been a "bold decision". It was done, he said, to "try to improve the private rented market and offer a good quality tenure," but it had also provided a dividend for the council, its sole shareholder. Labour councillor Nathan England said the council also benefited from more people living in local homes and paying council tax. This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. 'Huge interest' in town centre eco-homes Rental homes plan passed amid opposition Telford and Wrekin Council
BBC News
24-04-2025
- BBC News
West Midlands: Illegal vape dangers highlighted after BBC probe
Trading standards teams have spoken out about the dangers of illegal vapes after a BBC investigation found more than six million non-compliant products were seized over three was identified as one of the 10 areas with the highest number of products seized between 2022 and 2024, of the 133 out of 136 local trading standards authorities that responded to BBC freedom of information BBC discovered thousands of records of retailers selling vapes to children, and sales of illegal vapes were a factor in hundreds of shop Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency strongly advises consumers not to use illicit vapes because the true content is unknown. At least 31,177 non-compliant products were seized by Staffordshire County Council, where trading standards manager Tony Shore said it was not known what chemicals they said: "A lot of the ones that we're seeing – they're bright colours; the flavours that they are being flavoured with are attractive to young people, and those are the ones that tend to get bought by young people." Richard Overton, deputy leader of Telford and Wrekin Council, said: "Some of them are oversized, which means they're illegal because of the number of puffs you can take on those products."Some people in the community would think that's a good thing because they're trying to save money, but actually to have an illegal vape could be dangerous because they're not licensed."Nearly 10,000 were seized across Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin, data said the council was working with West Mercia Police on an intelligence-led basis to identify those selling the included using specially trained dogs for searches, seizing products, reviewing licences and looking at criminal proceedings and injunctions, he added. Coventry City Council's trading standards team seized 9,934 illicit or non-compliant vapes between 2022 and Mooney, principal trading standards officer for Coventry, said the trade in vapes was linked to many issues, but he had found many vape shops were run by organised crime gangs – and shops selling illegal goods were "far less scrupulous in terms of selling to those under 18".He would like to have greater powers to be able to shut down shops selling vapes altogether.A spokesman for the Independent British Vape Trade Association said the majority of purposed vape shops operated within the law, but a resurgence in the popularity of single-use vapes - a popular "cash market" – had seen organised crime gangs get IBVTA welcomed the recently-announced £10m of extra investment in trading standards by the government, and the extra powers officers will have via the Tobacco and Vapes 1 June, it will be illegal for businesses in the UK to sell, supply or possess single-use vapes for sale. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
28-02-2025
- General
- BBC News
Council to push for closure of Granville Landfill site
A council has said it will push to have a landfill site closed down, because of complaints about living near the Granville site in Telford, Shropshire, have said there is a "vile eggy odour" coming from a meeting on Thursday, members of Telford and Wrekin Council agreed to write to the government to ask the Environment Agency to "issue a closure notice".The operator, Potters (Midlands) Ltd, has been approached by the BBC, but has yet to respond. The Environment Agency has previously said it was working with the firm to resolve these landfill site closed as a household recycling centre in 2016, but is licensed to operate privately until nearby have complained of having to keep their windows closed to keep the smell out, and that it gets worse in the summer.A motion was put forward by the Conservative councillor for Priorslee, Rachael Tyrrell, calling for the site to be closed down sooner than said it was an important issue, adding that residents had "suffered terribly". Richard Overton, deputy leader of the council, said: "Their voices have been heard, loud and clear."We will be as robust as we can be, but we have no powers to close it ourselves."He said the council was due to meet the Environment Agency to discuss the landfill site next week and that the local councillors could Pallett, who lives in nearby Redhill, said: "If the wind is not blowing, you cannot open your windows."It really is so unpleasant you don't want to be outside."He added that the smell often "lingers" in homes and that Redhill had become notorious" for the smell, putting off would-be Tyrrell said she had received a lot of complaints over the past year from residents who were "fed up".She said there had been a lot of meetings over the issue, but they had failed to resolve the issue, so people in the area just wanted the site closed. This news was partly gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
