Date received: 10 October 2019
Signatories received: 1780
Name of petioner: Cllr D Brookes
Petition response:
I refer to the petition, signed by local residents regarding the request for the Area of Reflection.
Staffordshire County Council was first approached for permission to install a silhouetted soldier within Market Place as a temporary measure. Following installation of the memorial we became aware that this was a planned for the memorial to become a more substantial permanent feature. Your planning application that was made to the planning authority describes this as being removable indicating that this wouldn’t be permanent.
The County Council is supportive of the installation of the feature but on a temporary basis during the Armistice period in November each year, and in our response to the planning application we indicated “no objection subject of a permit to dig and license”. A long-standing agreement is something the Council remains willing to enter whereby the “area of reflection” will be re-instated on an annual basis for the month of November, in 2020 and beyond however, to date, we have not received any paperwork to reflect this is a temporary annual installation. Regardless of planning consent being granted, the installation is an illegal obstruction within the highway. I understand that John Henderson, Chief Executive has requested that the installation is removed at your earliest convenience.
Should you require consent to re-install the memorial for November 2020 and beyond please contact David Walters directly via david.walters@staffordshire.gov.uk to allow you to work through the appropriate agreements necessary.