Council leaders remain tight-lipped whether they plan to buy back land previously earmarked for hundreds of homes.

The land at Berryhill Fields, owned by Stoke-on-Trent Regeneration Ltd, has been the subject of a long-running battle to save it from development.

Stoke-on-Trent Regeneration was previously a joint venture between Stoke-on-Trent City Council and developer St Modwen, but the council sold its stake in the company for £5 million earlier this year. Opposition Conservative councillors, including Bucknall and Eaton Park councillor Heather Blurton, say this left the land at Berryhill Fields and other green spaces owned by Stoke-on-Trent Regeneration at risk of development.

At Thursday's full council meeting, Conservative group leader Dan Jellyman called on the authority to bring the land back into public ownership, but Labour council leaders declined to comment. This comes as the cabinet is due to the discuss the acquisition of 'multiple sites' in a behind-closed-doors meeting next week. No information on the sites has been revealed by the council.

Cllr Jellyman said: "At the start of the year, the council failed to secure much-loved green spaces across the city, such as Berryhill Fields, in the negotiations on winding down Stoke-on-Trent Regeneration Ltd, the council selling its interest in the land for around £5 million.

"Therefore, will the cabinet member back Cllr Blurton and the Conservative group's long-standing campaign to find a way to bring Berryhill Fields and other green spaces that were sold as part of this bad deal, back into public ownership?"

In response to a previous written question from Cllr Jellyman, Alastair Watson, cabinet member for finance, revealed that the council has raised £4.6 million through the sale of property and land since June 2023. But Cllr Watson did not answer Cllr Jellyman's follow-up question on Berryhill Fields, simply saying that the council would be looking to recruit more officers to its corporate property team.

Cllr Watson said: "When we took office we noted that 31 per cent of those posts were somewhat absent – that's 19 posts out of 61. I'd like to think that as we are going forward, we will be hiring permanent staff and doing a more sustainable job."

Land at Berryhill Fields was earmarked for 1,300 homes under proposals drawn up for the now abandoned Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle joint local plan. Berryhill Fields was later assessed as being not 'currently viable' for development, but local residents campaigning to protect the land have long feared the housing plans could be resurrected.

At their meeting on Tuesday, cabinet members will consider a report entitled 'acquisition of land – multiple sites', during a closed session. The report is being discussed in private due to it including 'information relating to the financial and business affairs of any particular person'.

The city council declined to comment on the cabinet report.

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