Stoke-on-Trent City Council is preparing to market nine school sites, complete with planning permission, in order to raise money for its capital programme. Most of the schools are due to become redundant this summer when pupils and staff relocate to new buildings in the city.
A report to the cabinet calls for the land to be sold as quickly as possible to avoid the cost of of the council having to demolish the buildings. The Sentinel reports that the sites are suitable for housing, but they may also be of interest to commercial property developers.
In the short term the council is likely to decommission the buildings, which involves the removal of valuable materials, safely removing any asbestos and boarding them up.
The buildings have become surplus to requirement as a result of the council’s £261 million Building Schools for the Future programme. The sell-off is expected to raise up to £5 million.
Meanwhile, the council is spending £72,000 revamping the former Spode pottery factory in a bid to attract a buyer for the 10 acre site. The money will be spent repairing and restoring the entrance to the Grade II listed building on Church Street.
The council, which acquired the land and buildings in 2010, is marketing the assets as part of wider plans to regenerate Stoke town. This regeneration has become an even greater priority since the council announced it would be vacating the nearby civic centre to move to new offices in the city’s soon-to-be-built central business district.
Cabinet member for regeneration, Ruth Rossenau, said; “I’m glad this important structure will be restored to its former glory.
“It is an important part of the heritage of Stoke and will be preserved for future generations.”
Refurbishment of the site’s China Hall has already taken place and later this year the Spode factory will, once again, play host to the British Ceramics Biennial.
Possible uses for the site that have previously been discussed include a supermarket development and a hub of smaller retail and leisure properties.
These opportunities may be among those on the agenda when inward investment body Make it Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire holds its next commercial property event. This takes place at the South Staffordshire College Rodbaston campus on Thursday 20th June and will provide an insight into what the area has to offer.
