Regeneration leaders are set to spend £1.7 million on bringing a disused factory site back into use.
The Stoke-on-Trent (England) City Council is looking to carry out the ‘enabling work’ at the former Spode Works in Stoke to get it ready for future regeneration.
Buildings on the north-east part of the site will be demolished to make way for the Spode Fields housing development, and new gas pipes and electricity cables will be laid.
The Church Street frontage will be refurbished, along with the exterior of the former directors block.
A council report states: “The proposed works will help progress the regeneration of this important site, by removing some of the development constraints, and assist in bringing vacant historic buildings on the site back into use. [They will also] reduce the council’s annual holding costs and provide the opportunity to generate rental income.”
“The overall development will create jobs, secure investment, bringing historic buildings back into use and support regeneration of Stoke town centre“, it continues.
The council welcomes private redevelopment proposals for the site. Six projects in the first stage of the Spode masterplan have already been identified for completion over the next two years. These include the provision of new student accommodation, shops, offices and artist studios, and the expansion of the Spode Museum Trust visitor centre.