Councillors have voted to approve a memorial to Biddulph's miners on Station Road, which will include moving the wheel from its current location in front of the Town Hall to become part of the new memorial.

The decision was taken at a meeting of Biddulph Town Council held on Tuesday (27th July).

However, not everyone is happy with the plans to have the wheel relocated, with Biddulph's Mayor telling Nub News that she was against the decision.

Residents have also taken to social media to voice their opposition to the decision, with one post receiving over 130 comments, with many feeling that relocating the wheel would leave it in a less visible area of the town, meaning it would not be seen by as many people.

The decision comes after the council agreed in October 2020 to buy an area of land on Station Road from Sainsbury's for £4,000, as part of the authority's plans to develop the land near the supermarket into a community garden and a miners' memorial.

Biddulph Nub News reported back in February how the memorial's designs had been sent back to the architect twice to ensure that councillors were happy with the plans.

Biddulph's Mayor, Cllr Sylvia Rushton, told Nub News that she voted against the plans at this week's meeting, but the motion was passed due to a majority of councillors voting in favour.

She said: "We are a mining community, and we want to put up a memorial to the miners on Station Road, but it includes moving the wheel which I personally don't want moved, and a lot of people are jumping on that bandwagon now.

"The family of Cllr George Humphries, who worked to get the wheel originally put in place, are also against the idea.

"Station Road is a bit of a shambles because people are treating it like a playground, I think we need to put CCTV there.

"I didn't want it to be moved, but we have to go with the majority vote.

"With that being said I think the memorial will be very tasteful, and even though I don't want the wheel to be moved I do like the design.

"The problem is that the rest of the memorial couldn't be put with the wheel in front of the Town Hall because we've got the fountains and the community gardens for it at Station Road."

The council explained back in February that once it was satisfied with the memorial plans it would consult with a range of residents and organisations in the town to try and ensure that people were happy with how the gardens and memorial would look.

Residents voiced their opinions on the plans to move the wheel this week, with one saying: "I've listened to all sides and still firmly believe it shouldn't be moved. I feel it will go unseen and unnoticed and is a huge waste of money."

Another added: "Put the vote to the people! I would vote to leave it where it is in the Town Centre where it's seen by all and not in an out of the way area. How many people actually walk down Station Road?"

Plans are also in place for the families of those who have died in the local mining industry to have a brick engraved with their name on the memorial, with the aim of honouring the town's strong mining heritage and those who worked and died in the industry.