Plans To Transform Hanley Go To Cabinet Tomorrow With New Homes And Possible Development Corporation

Plans to transform Hanley are due to go before Stoke-on-Trent City Council's Cabinet tomorrow (Tuesday 6 October), including an ambition for hundreds more homes in the city centre and a possible Urban Development Corporation to drive the work.

The council published its City Centre Masterplan last week. If approved, it will set out a short and long-term vision to make the city centre a place where people want to live, work, study, visit and invest.

The short-term vision includes an aspiration for 750 new homes on brownfield city centre sites and about 1,800 more people living in the centre by 2030, which the council says would increase footfall. The plan also aims to strengthen shops, cafes, restaurants, culture and public spaces, and to improve bus, walking and cycling links.

Cabinet will also be asked to agree in principle to creating an Urban Development Corporation (UDC) to help deliver the masterplan. A UDC is an independent public body that can acquire and develop land. The council says it would need Government support and a robust business case, and that setting one up could take up to two years. Delivery of the masterplan would continue in the meantime. Similar corporations already operate in places including Ebbsfleet and Cambridge.

The plan builds on work already under way, including the multi-million-pound Etruscan Square scheme and housing at sites such as the former Olympus Engineering works on College Road and Pyenest Street in Shelton.

Councillor Finlay Gordon-McCusker, Cabinet Member for Growth, Regeneration and Transport, said: "A successful city centre is about so much more than buildings. We want it to be a place where people choose to spend their time, whether that's shopping, meeting friends, enjoying culture and entertainment, relaxing in great public spaces or living in the heart of the city. Our vision is for a city centre that is busy, welcoming and vibrant throughout the day and evening."

He added: "The next step is a detailed dialogue with government and its key agencies about the best means of delivering the plan, including a possible Urban Development Corporation, which would give us the tools and momentum needed to unlock major regeneration opportunities and attract the investment our city deserves."