Plans to move an historic statue of Josiah Wedgwood have had to be approved by councillors for the second time in five weeks – due to new council red tape.

Members of the planning committee at Stoke-on-Trent City Council were asked grant listed building consent to the relocation of the Grade II-listed statue in Station Road, Stoke, after last month granting planning permission to a wider scheme including the statue move.

Officers told the councillors that while they would have previously used delegated powers to grant listed building consent, this was no longer an option due to a recent change in the council's rules, meaning it had to return to the committee.

These new rules state that only elected councillors can grant listed building consent in cases where there have been objections that cannot be dealt with by conditions. Listed building consent is technically a separate process to planning permission, and applications involving listed structures need to go through both.

The statue is being moved as part of a £9 million govenment-funded scheme to revamp Station Road (Nub News).

The statue is being moved as part of a £9 million government-funded scheme to revamp Station Road, which will see the installation of a bus gate to bar most through traffic from the stretch. Some objectors had questioned the need to move the statue across the road to a new spot outside the Stoke Station entrance, raising concerns over the impact on heritage assets.

But planning committee members agreed that the issues involving the statue had already been examined in detail over two previous meetings in December and February, and so there would be no need to go over them all again. They therefore voted to grant listed building consent without a debate.

Committee vice-chair Andy Platt said: "We have done this to death, haven't we? We've been through this on several occasions. We've probably considered all the issues related to listed building consent on the previous times.

"However, we, collectively, as the city council, changed the rules, didn't we? I did say at the time that I wasn't quite sure whether these listed building consent ones should not be delegated, but we chose not to delegate it. And that's why it's here."

The Station Road scheme aims to improve public transport links between the station and Hanley (Google).

The Station Road scheme, which will also see a new bus stop, new parking and a realignment of the road, is being carried out after the council secured £29 million from the government's Transforming Cities fund. The project aims to improve public transport links between the station and Hanley, while also making the area more pleasant for pedestrians.

------------

READ MORE: What's on in Stoke this weekend: Ceramic Makers' Market, floral workshop and live theatre

Free from clickbait, pop-up ads and unwanted surveys, Stoke Nub News is a quality online newspaper for our city.

Subscribe to our FREE weekly newsletter email HERE - just click the 'SIGN UP' button.

Please consider following Stoke Nub News on Facebook or Twitter.