Council set to adopt new strategy to tackle empty properties in town

More than three hundred business premises are currently vacant, many of them for more than six months

- By Phil Corrigan

Closed shops in Cheadle.

AROUND one in 10 commercial properties in the Staffordshire Moorlands are standing empty, new figures show. There are 325 business premises across the district which are currently vacant, with 290 of these empty for six months or more.

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council is now set to adopt a new empty property strategy, which will cover both empty homes and disused commercial buildings. Officers told the resources overview and scrutiny committee that the authority was seeing success in its work to bringemptyhomes backintouse. The number of empty homes has fallen from 991 to 840 over the last year, with the number vacant for over six months falling from 735 to 554.