Let's make Stoke-on-Trent the Amsterdam of the Midlands

Those bright sparks at Stoke-on-Trent City Council are at it again.
First they want to ban takeaways because they make the people of the Potteries fat.
Now they want to ban "downmarket" sex shops, arcades and bookies' because they're worried that plans for the regeneration of Hanley will be undermined by such tawdry "outlets".
They reckon the North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership (NSRP) has some great ideas for the Piccadilly area, and giving visitors the chance to play the slot machines before purchasing a bit of porn and a marital aid sends out the wrong impression.
In principle, I suppose I can see where they're coming from. If Realis Estates' proposed East West Shopping Centre comes off, there's the potential for Hanley to become a city centre worth visiting.
But are the minds at the Civic Centre in Stoke thinking about the people who actually live in the city? (They're the very same taxpayers who pay their wages, after all.)
Because, from a PR point of view, it all just sounds snotty, snobby and out of touch.
People in Stoke-on-Trent like to visit takeaways. They evidently like a flutter on the horses and a fair few probably have Debbie Does Dallas in their DVD collections. If they didn't, such "downmarket" businesses wouldn't exist in the city.
OK, they might be fat, broke and have repetitive strain injury, but it's their personal choice.
And if those taxpayers got the feeling that the city council and its regeneration partners knew what they were doing, perhaps grand declarations like this one would be a bit easier to accept.
No, I've decided we need to innovate and be bold. We need the powers-that-be to come up with a different plan to put Stoke-on-Trent on the map.
So I will be writing to the town hall immediately with my suggestion. (Actually, I'll email because Stoke Royal Mail postal workers are going on strike. My dossier might never get there.)
And my suggestion? We should create a Sex-And-Betting Quarter in the Potteries. We could become the Amsterdam of the Midlands (we've already got the canals).
Now that's the kind of vision needed to transform North Staffordshire's fortunes.
And I reckon the good folk of Burslem, Longton, Hanley, Fenton, Tunstall and Stoke might agree.

Royal Mail? Simply second class

Well it looks like the poor old people of Stoke-on-Trent have been shafted again.
But forget failing schools like Sandon Business and Enterprise College in Meir. Forget waste-of-space politicians at Stoke-on-Trent City Council. Forget Third World conditions (queuing for hours on trolleys) at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire.
Forget them all.
Because there was more great news today... the poor old peeps with an ST postcode officially get the worst postal service from the Royal Mail in mainland Britain.
Personally speaking, I'd love to say I'm surprised. But the last time I was at home on a weekday, I didn't get my gas bill on the doormat until gone 1pm.
1pm? What kind of postal service is that? Evidently a very late and not very good one. I'm just grateful I'm not a struggling North Staffordshire business. How they're supposed to make any money with a postal service so poor, especially during a credit crunch (I had to mention it somewhere), is beyond me.
And it gets worse. Because not only is the Royal Mail second class and completely useless in North Staffordshire. My local paper, The Sentinel, reckons postal drivers might go out on strike over Christmas. Oh behold the festive joy. Let's all lick a stamp in celebration.
You might be unsurprised to know that the public are not being too sympathetic up to now, while Royal Mail big noises reckon the customer deserves better.
Well at least they've got that bit right... though I'm not sure that shipping a load of delivery staff from Stoke to Wolverhampton will help much on that front.