Stoke-on-Trent city centre's 'once in a generation' revamp

Plans for a 3,600-seater arena, a hotel, car park and homes are a "once in a generation opportunity" for a city, a council says.

The development, named Etruscan Square, is proposed for the centre of Hanley in Stoke-on-Trent.

The scheme has been backed with £20m from the government's Levelling Up Fund.

Planning applications are due to be submitted before the end of March, with work beginning this summer if approved.

"This is a real once in a generation opportunity to create something unique and lasting for Stoke-on-Trent," regeneration councillor Daniel Jellyman said.

The East-West Precinct was demolished in 2019 to make way for the scheme which also covers Hanley's former bus station.

As well as the arena, the council says the plans for the seven acre (three hectare) site will include 285 homes, a 138-bed hotel, a multi-storey car park, a conference centre and commercial space.

Mr Jellyman said he wanted the proposals to "turbo-charge our economic recovery" and added if the plans were approved, the entire project could take 10 years to deliver.

Josef Bailey owns two restaurants in Stoke-on-Trent including one in Hanley and said he hoped the scheme would drive more people into the city centre.

With more people working from home over the past two years due to the pandemic, he said he hoped the conference centre in particular would boost trade during the day.

"They could be coming in for breakfast before [a conference] or maybe catching a bite before they catch the train home after," he said.

Investors and developers are going to be presented with the plans at an event in Stoke-on-Trent in January and in London in February.

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