Council leaders have revealed how they will spend £20 million of levelling up cash on projects ranging from town centre improvements to a new 'leisure campus'.

Stoke-on-Trent was awarded the Levelling Up Partnership funding last autumn – the final tranche of regeneration money allocated to the city under the previous Conservative government.

Since the end of last year, Stoke-on-Trent City Council has been working with government officials to draw up a list of projects that will benefit from the funding, most of which will be in the north of the city. Cabinet members are now set to rubberstamp the Levelling Up Partnership programme, which will allow the money to be spent over the next two years.

In addition to the new schemes set to receive funding, the council is also planning to allocate £4 million to the Goods Yard project next to Stoke Station, the first phase of which is nearing completion. According to the report to cabinet, this money will plug a gap 'between investment by the city and disposal value'. The Goods Yard, which will include 174 flats, workspaces and bars, has already received £16 million from the government's Levelling Up Fund.

Council leaders have revealed how they will spend £20 million of levelling up cash (Nub News).

These are the other projects set to funded:

Public urban realm programme – £6.5 million. Most of this (£4.5 million) will targeted at Tunstall, with £1.25m going to Burslem and Middelport, £500,000 to Longton and £250,000 to Stoke.

Green and blue corridor enhancement – £1.1 million. Targeted improvements to canals and green corridors, aimed at enhancing their accessibility. The Canal and River Trust will lead this project.

Advanced Green Skills Centre – £2 million. A new green technologies advanced skills centre will be established at Stoke-on-Trent College's Burslem campus. The money will pay for the refurbishment of existing space for learning and an 'incubation area' for businesses working with green and digital technologies.

Around £2.5 million is to be spent on a new Vale Park leisure campus (Wiki Commons).

Vale Park leisure campus – £2.5 million. Port Vale Community Trust is drawing up proposals for a leisure campus that will provide facilities for both the club and local community. The total cost of the scheme is still being determined, and other funding sources are being explored.

Burslem Indoor Market – £1.3 million. A business case has been drawn up to bring the derelict market back into use. The allocated funds will pay for a planning application and emergency works to stop the building deteriorating further.

Design out crime and ASB – £1 million. This allocation would go towards extending the Safer Streets programme in Tunstall and Longton, focusing on the town centres.

Enhanced recreational provision in lower income areas – £1 million. This project will update recreational facilities in more deprived residential areas.

Chatterley Valley Eco Hub – £150,000. The master plan will be drawn up for a green energy cluster at Chatterley Whitfield, which could potentially create 500 jobs at the former colliery.

Around £1.3 million will be spent on Burslem Indoor Market (LDRS).

City Centre master planning – £100,000. The previously announced scheme to draw up a masterplan for the city centre was set to be partially funded by the owners of the Potteries Shopping Centre, but it will now be allocated Levelling Up Partnership cash instead.

Councillor Finlay Gordon-McCusker, cabinet member for transport, infrastructure and regeneration, said: "This is fantastic news. The funding will give us the chance to make valuable investments in our city and address some key issues.

"We have listened carefully to what people have told us; they want to feel safer on our streets; they want to ensure the next generation has the skills they need to get on and get a good job; they want more community facilities for all to use; and, critically, they want to protect our heritage and build on it as our city enters a new era.

"All of these projects have been designed with local people's feedback at their heart, and I am incredibly pleased that we have been awarded £20 million of funding to help us make our ambitions a reality.

"We have an excellent track record of working with partners and I look forward to seeing these projects progress and get off the ground. I am confident that we can achieve great things in a short space of time."

The city council originally drew up a list of projects in the Tunstall, Burslem and Middleport, after the government asked it to identify a specific area to target the Levelling Up Partnership funding. Government officials subsequently carried out their own analysis and came back with a preferred list of schemes, which was then further developer in partnership with the council.

The money is due to be spent by March 2026 (Nub News).

The money was originally due to be spent by March 2025, but this deadline has now been extended to March 2026.

The report to cabinet states: "The Levelling Up Partnership programme is viewed as offering valuable investment within the city, enabling a number of projects to progress, which otherwise wouldn't be delivered. Although challenging in terms of delivery, it is considered that the acceptance of grant outweighs any risks associated with the delivery of the programme.

"There have been a number of other project proposals that were considered in arriving at the current programme, however these were either clearly undeliverable within the timescale, predominantly revenue or required statutory decisions that could hold back the timescale."

------------

READ MORE: New convenience store could replace vacant cycle repair shop in Stoke-on-Trent

Free from clickbait, pop-up ads and unwanted surveys, Stoke Nub News is a quality online newspaper for our city.

Subscribe to our FREE weekly newsletter email HERE - just click the 'SIGN UP' button.

Please consider following Stoke Nub News on Facebook or Twitter.