Northwood regeneration plans unveiled

25 March 2010

Plans to improve and regenerate parts of Northwood, Stoke-on-Trent, have been unveiled.

RENEW North Staffordshire held a meeting with residents in February to discuss the new Northwood Neighbourhood Plan.

Now more detail has been announced covering four major initiatives to improve the quality of life for local residents.

These are: 

1)     Bringing into use historic clearance sites.  Northwood, like many inner city areas, has some long standing empty sites.  RENEW North Staffordshire plans to work with regeneration partner Moorland Harvest Housing to assess where sites can be redeveloped.  On site investigation work has already begun and this will help inform future options for each plot.

2)      Regenerating empty homes.  RENEW is working with Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s empty properties team to look at how to bring homes back into use.  Long standing properties in poor condition will be the first to be targeted. 

3)      Environmental improvements. RENEW will work with architects at Scott Wilson who produced the Neighbourhood Plan, to design improvement projects for run down open areas on pedestrian routes at key locations. 

4)      New development.  RENEW is contacting major property and land owners including those owning vacant and derelict sites.  Discussions will cover how to bring their land back into use and will also look at the feasibility of converting old factories into new homes.  Potential development opportunities include those areas off Town Road, Upper Huntbach Street and Bucknall New Road which are all adjacent to Potteries Way.

The next meeting of the Northwood Community Steering Group will take place at 6.30pm on Monday March 29th at the Hope Centre, Hanley.