Plans for Canal Quarter forge ahead

03 June 2010

Plans to develop over 250 new homes and create a major new pedestrian route through the city centre started on June 1 as work on the Canal Quarter - RENEW’s flagship project - forges ahead.

This will mean road closures as the essential work gets going. So by the end of this week, permanent road closures will be applied to the following three roads:

*       Talbot Street;
*       Berkeley Street;
*       Howson Street.

The closures of these roads are necessary to allow drilling and grouting works of the disused mineshafts underneath the site. The work will take 13 weeks to complete. In addition, double yellow lines will also be used along Pelham Street and Bernard Street to enable the work to go smoothly.

As well as new housing work on the The Canal Quarter, included within the City Waterside masterplan, there are also plans to deliver a new large scale building and other small scale commercial, leisure and retail outlets.

The city council will oversee the creation of fully-serviced development plots. Work for this will start in the autumn and will last for between six to eight months.

Though there will obviously be some inconvenience caused by the work, it will be well worth it, say councillors, as it will improve both the look of the area and also attract people back to the city.

Councillor Brian Ward, cabinet member for housing, planning and transportation, commented: “The development work to the Canal Quarter will act as a catalyst for future investment in the city and is a key step to the overall regeneration of Stoke-on-Trent. By creating pedestrianised areas we are helping to encourage both residents and investors back into the city.”

It is anticipated that a residential developer will be appointed later this year and the first houses will be built in the late Spring 2011.