Budget 2021: Stoke-on-Trent regeneration gets £56m

The city council said the £56m is the largest government investment in Stoke-on-Trent for more than 20 years

Hundreds of new homes will be built and historic buildings restored in Stoke-on-Trent with £56m from the government's Levelling Up Fund, the Chancellor has announced.

During the Budget, Rishi Sunak revealed three schemes would split the funding, including a revamp for the city centre.

Two former pottery factory sites and a library will also be redeveloped.

The city council said it was the largest government investment in the city since 1998.

The funding will see £20m used in Hanley, in the centre of the city, where the local authority has been working for several years to regenerate the area.

The derelict East-West Precinct was demolished in 2019 and the cash will see the first of 250 homes built on the site along with preparations for a 2,500-seat venue.

The first homes will be built and preparations made for a new 2,500-seater venue in Hanley with £20m of the funding, the council said

Another £20m will be spent in the towns of Longton, Stoke and Tunstall to build more than 200 homes and new business spaces.

They will go on the former pottery sites of Spode and the Crown Works, and on the old library and baths in Tunstall.

The council said the remaining £16m had been earmarked to "turbo-charge" the Goods Yard site near the railway station.

An old warehouse is set to be demolished and replaced with commercial space and more homes.

Homes and new business space are set to be built on the old Spode pottery site

The council put in four bids to the government's Levelling Up Fund but failed to get £17.5m for improvements to the city's bus network.

The Chancellor also announced up to £50,000 to explore the possibility of bringing back passenger trains between Stoke-on-Trent and Leek, in the Staffordshire Moorlands.

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The city council's deputy leader, Daniel Jellyman, said the funding was a "ringing endorsement" of its plans.

"The chancellor's announcements today show that the government has confidence in our ability to deliver as a city council," he added.

Stoke-on-Trent South Conservative MP Jack Brereton said he hoped the cash would mean work accelerating on the schemes in the near future.

He added the city needed to "get these projects going now" and a number of developers had shown interest in being involved.