Growth Spurt: Almost 5,000 New Homes Planned for Stoke in the Next Three Years
Plus new statue to honour Stoke's female ceramicists; revamp for Longton, council's Virtual School supports children in care and Hanley Park voted one of best in UK
Good News 🎉
🏠 New Homes Are Coming. Stoke-on-Trent City Council is set to approve plans to deliver nearly 5,000 homes across the city over the next three years. Almost 1,800 homes (37 per cent) included in the council’s housing pipeline project are expected to be affordable homes for people on the housing register. The programme will see the authority work with Homes England, developers and landowners to deliver 4,857 houses across 23 sites in the city. The sites include completed and near-completed developments such as Goods Yard and Chatterley Court in Chell Heath plus sites under development like Scotia Road in Burslem, Booth Street in Stoke, the former Doris Robinson Court site in Meir and the former Brookhouse Primary School site in Wellfield Road, Bentilee.
🧱 🧱 🧱 THE KNOT’S PERSON OF THE WEEK – Rhyllan-Taperek 🧱 🧱 🧱
This Level 2 Bricklaying apprentice at Stoke-on-Trent College has qualified for the national finals of the SkillBuild UK competition, a top-notch event showcasing emerging talent in construction. Rhyllan began his education at the college aged 14, studying Level 1 Construction Skills following elective home education. He’s been familiar with the construction industry from an early age, having gained experience through his dad, Simon Taperek, a college alumnus and owner of Kobra Construction.
Rhyllan demonstrated a strong aptitude for bricklaying, leading to a first-place finish in the Guild of Bricklayers competition, where he competed in the senior category. He later secured third place in the national round of the same event. Congrats Rhyllan!
👩🦰 New Statue to Honour Stoke’s Female Ceramicists. At the start of the 20th century, women made up nearly half of the workforce in the local pottery industry. Yet their roles were often overlooked, underpaid and undervalued, with men taking on the most skilled and lucrative positions. A new statue is set to pay tribute to the women who shaped our ceramics industry. It’s proposed to be installed outside the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery where the Steel Man statue is currently located. As part of the proposals, Steel Man is set to be loaned to Goodwin PLC, where it was originally cast almost 50 years ago. In return, Goodwin would fund and commission the new bronze statue.
👷♀️Revitalising Longton. Extra government money to revitalise Longton town centre marks another step towards the town centre's long-term regeneration, as reported by James on our socials. Stoke-on-Trent South Labour MP Dr Allison Gardner said the Levelling Up investment would create a gateway entrance to the town at Times Square with safer traffic flows, new paving, and tree planting. More trees will be planted at Baths Passage where planners also want to see a new mural telling the story of Longton’s vibrant past. Gardner added, “Once the public consultation is completed, I will be pressing as hard as possible for the work to get underway. This is the regeneration that Longton has long deserved.”
🏫 Council’s Virtual School Supports Children in Care. More than 1,160 children and young people in Stoke-on-Trent who are cared for, or previously cared for, have been given extra help over the past year with their education. The city council’s Virtual School assists schools with support plans and provides funding for interventions and resources. Next up, it hopes to boost attainment for SEND children; improve school attendance; and help improve support for children and young people at risk of being not in education, employment or training.
🚩 Waving The Flag in Newcastle. Bringing a burst of colour, creativity and community spirit, more than 70 eye-catching flags featuring original artwork from local residents are now flying high on Newcastle high street following the announcement of winners of Newcastle-under-Lyme BID’s Castle Flags Art Competition, which invited people of all ages to submit designs exploring the theme People and Place. The flags will be on display for the rest of the summer, so go check ‘em out if you haven’t done so already!
🏞️ Hanley Park Voted One of Best in Country. Hanley Park has been awarded the Green Flag Award for the fifth year in a row, confirming its status as one of the best-managed parks in the UK. The award, run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, is the international benchmark for parks and green spaces. It celebrates clean, safe and welcoming green spaces that are well-maintained and managed to the highest standards. To achieve Green Flag status, parks must demonstrate excellence in areas such as community involvement, environmental management, a variety of plants and wildlife, and accessibility.
🥨 Good Vibes Only: A word from Helen, writer at The Knot
Despite our reputation for relatively inexpensive property – the average house price in Stoke-on-Trent was around £162,753 over the last year according to Rightmove while the average in the UK is £268,400 based on the UK House Price Index – there’s a distinct lack of affordable housing, with rising house prices making it difficult for first-time buyers and low income families to get on the property ladder. There are more than 3,138 households on the housing register, a 41% increase in the last 12 months. More than half of those households are in urgent and high need of accommodation.
With sharp demand from residents for affordable properties, we’re pleased to hear that the council is set to build nearly 5,000 homes over the next three years, with the cabinet asked to approve the plans at their next meeting. We’ll be keeping a close eye on these developments and bringing you more news when we can…
In addition to housing, another big story for Stoke over the next few years is the plan to create a new North Staffordshire unitary authority with Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire Moorlands, which is part of a wider government initiative to restructure local councils in Staffordshire by 2028. Many local politicians and councillors have strong views on this matter, and for a story we’re putting together, we’d love to know what you think. If you get chance, please take part in the poll below. Have strong views for and against? Email us at james@theknot.group with your full name, a photo and the reasons why you think Stoke should, or shouldn’t, become a North Staffordshire unitary authority with Newcastle and the Moorlands.
Thanks a lot – we can’t wait to hear your views!
Really Good News 🎉 Your favourite news from the last week
🖌️ Spode Works Set For Transformation: With Capital and Centric set to take over, we asked if the revamp will still manage to serve our creative communities?
🧙♀️ The Burslem Witch Returns: Opening night 23/07 at B Arts. Pay what you can
🏃♀️ Brilliant Bamboo Secures Brownfield Site: We can’t wait to see what they do with it!
The Knot Pod 🎤 ⬇️ Catch James chatting with some of our amazing innovators
🥨 The Red Haired Stokie: Our ace local blogger, photographer & Knot contributor
🗣️ Kirsty Hulse: Get inspired, it’s the founder of leading event Confidence Live
🏃♂️ George Bettany: Jog to this chat with the founder of MARA Run Club
📽️ Daniel Moore: So much creativity going on in Stone at top agency Dissident
🎶: Ash and Ryan: Listen to two of Stoke’s biggest names in music and fashion
🕯️Beth Warren: Founder of sustainable candle brand The Wandering Bee
Weekly Weather (Stoke-on-Trent):
Mon ⛅️ 20° (13°) Tue 🌦️ 20° (13°) Wed 🌧️ 21° (13°) Thu ⛅️ 23° (14°) Fri ☁️ 22° (13°)
Sat ⛅️ 22° (13°) Sun ☀️ 23° (13°).
Sunrise 21/07 ☀️05:09 Sunset 21/07 🌅 21:20
If homes are being built on brownfield or grey land spaces, if the homes and gardens are of an adequate size and areas are incorporated for trees and wildlife then this is a good thing. Stoke on Trent needs this, a lot of areas are derelict land and decaying buildings. Not all that is old is viable and can be saved. We need to incorporate as much as possible of the heritage to keep Stoke on Trent unique.