West Stanley Disaster Memorial Sunday 16th February 3.30pm

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Every year the town stops and pays its respects to the 168 men and boys who were killed on 16th February 1909, when at 3.45 pm, an explosion ripped through the Burns Pit.

It was a disaster that had a huge effect on the town. Over 300 dependents, the vast majority of whom lived in colliery company houses faced destitution after losing their loved ones.

The log book of the East Stanley Board School stated :

“Many of our children have lost father or brothers. The intense grief is unbearable. In my visits I find that 11 of my old pupils have suffered on Tuesday. The West Stanley Disaster has made an awful havoc among our children”

There will be a Remembrance Event held from 3.30 pm on Sunday 16th February. Songs and poems will be sung and recited and the Craghead Colliery Band will perform, followed by the observance of a silence to remember those who died 111 years ago.

Stanley Town Council budget setting 2018/19

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The Town Council set its budget for the forthcoming financial year at last Tuesday’s full council meeting. The Council voted to increase the parish precept (which is the part of the Council tax which funds the Council) by 2.95%.

This means that for a Band A property, the parish precept will increase from £59.92 to £61.69 per year. The Band D rate will go from £89.88 to £92.53.

The Council plans to re-introduce an enhanced warden service for Stanley in 2018 to tackle dirty yards, dog fouling and litter around the area, provide more support for local community groups and village halls, whilst continuing to provide funding for the Stanley advice centre, free high quality events throughout the year, youth services and a range of Civic Pride initiatives. The majority of new services will be funded by reducing the subsidy of the Civic Hall.

Proposing the budget increase, Cllr David Marshall said “If no increase is provided, then the ability to provide the improvement in the service we are planning would not be possible”

Full details of the budget can be found here: 2018-19 Budget (Approved)

Video footage of the Council meeting (and all other meetings) can be found on our youtube channel. Tuesday’s meeting is linked below. The budget discussion starts 15 minutes into the meeting.