Buyer checks pledge after site became cannabis farm

Police found 300 cannabis plants in Portland House, Burslem, less than two years after it had been sold by the council

Surplus sites will only be sold to "fit and proper" people, council leaders have insisted, after one former council-owned building was turned into a cannabis factory.

Eleven buildings and sites have been declared surplus to requirements by Stoke-on-Trent City Council, meaning some could be sold off to raise money and cut costs.

The authority is preparing an "ethical framework" for disposing of sites, which it said will involve carrying out checks on purchasers, and having a say on how the sites are brought back into use.

In 2022, a large cannabis grow was found at Grade II-listed Portland House in Burslem, less than two years after the building had been sold by the council.

'Unfortunate disposals'

“As a Burslem councillor, I think I know a lot of what people feel about previous decisions around sites declared surplus to requirements," said Labour council leader Jane Ashworth.

It had led to some "unfortunate disposals" within Burslem, she said, citing Portland House, which "was sold off by the previous administration and became a thriving centre as a cannabis farm."

Having an ethical framework would make sure that if a decision was made to sell a site, it would be sold "to fit and proper people, after undertaking due diligence".

"We’ll be looking to find ways of making sure we have some power over what happens after we’ve sold it in terms of bringing the building or site into use," the leader added.

Fenton Library - which was closed in 2011 - is one of the sites designated surplus to requirements by the council

The sites which have been declared surplus by the council include the Etruscan Square development site in Hanley, the former Fenton Library, Stoke-on-Trent Gymnastics Centre and land next to the former Edensor High School, Longton.

Putting Etruscan Square on the list was just a "formality" said the council, and does not mean it was being sold off, as revised plans for the city centre development were being prepared.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.