Just £5.3 million out of £40 million allocated to two Levelling Up projects has been spent so far – with less than a year left to spend the remaining £34 million.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council was awarded £56 million from the government's Levelling Up Fund in 2021 for three major regeneration projects.

And while the £16 million allocated to the Goods Yard in Stoke has now been fully spent, most of the £20 million allocations for the other two schemes remains unclaimed. Just £3.75 million has been spent on Hanley's Etruscan Square development, whereas the Heritage Towns Project – involving historic buildings in Stoke, Longton and Tunstall – has seen only £1.53 million spent.

This money has been used on preliminary work such as studies and surveys, with actual building works yet to start. In the case of both Etruscan Square and Spode – the largest of the three heritage towns projects – the council is in the process of drawing up new plans after scrapping earlier proposals.

Just £3.75m has been spent on the Etruscan Square project in Hanley (Nub News).

The Department for Housing, Levelling Up and Communities (DHLUC) expects all the funding awarded in the first round of Levelling Up to be spent by March 2025 – or by 2025/26 on an 'exceptional basis'. The city council insists that all of the schemes are moving forward, and that there is 'regular dialogue' with government on Levelling Up.

A spokesperson for the authority said: "Each of the Levelling Up schemes is progressing. The spend to date for Etruscan Square and the heritage projects has been on studies and survey work to secure permissions to enable the schemes to be developed. The council has been and continues to be in regular dialogue with DHLUC."

Etruscan Square is the latest name for the council's planned redevelopment of the former Hanley Shopping Centre and bus station sites in the city centre, which has been proposed since the 1990s. Full planning permission was secured for 139 homes and a 645-space car park to replace the demolished Meigh Street multi-storey.

But after winning last year's local elections, Labour council leaders scrapped the car park and started work on a new masterplan – without the indoor arena the previous Conservative administration had proposed. The council is now looking to sign up a private sector development partner to take forward Etruscan Square.

The new Labour council scrapped previous plans for Etruscan Square and started work on a new plan (Nub News).

Most of the £20 million of Levelling Up cash was originally set to be spent on the car park and other infrastructure – it is unclear how it will be used now.

Half of the Heritage Towns allocation – £10 million – is due to be spent on the redevelopment of the Spode site in Stoke. Plans for more than 100 homes along with offices and leisure facilities, proposed by Nimrod Holdings Group, were shelved ahead of last year's elections after concerns were raised over the developer. New plans for Spode have yet to come forward.

The Heritage Towns funding also includes a £6.5 million for the regeneration of Crown Works in Longton, and £3.5 million for Tunstall Library and Baths. Ovi Homes secured planning permission to turn part of the Crown Works into 59 apartments for the over-55s last June.

Tunstall Library Developments Limited is looking to turn the former library and swimming pool into apartments and a gym in an £8 million scheme, but a planning application has yet to be submitted.

In stark contrast to the other Levelling Up schemes, the Goods Yard project, on the former Swift House site next to Stoke Station, is well underway.

Around £10m is due to be spent on the redevelopment of the Spode site in Stoke (LDRS).

The £60 million 'urban village' will include 174 flats along with workspaces, cafes, shops and bars, with the first phase set to open early next year.

Regeneration expert Dave Proudlove believes that 'artificial deadlines' set by the government have resulted in levelling up schemes, both in Stoke-on-Trent and elsewhere, being rushed. But he believes it is vital that projects involving heritage assets are done well, rather than quickly.

Mr Proudlove, who is also a Labour councillor in the Staffordshire Moorlands, said: "The schemes put forward in Stoke-on-Trent are complex, and involve the regeneration of heritage assets, and as such, it is absolutely crucial that appropriately skilled and experienced design teams are involved, and development partners with an established track record in delivering such schemes are selected.

"What happened at Spode has been well documented, and it was fair to ask questions in terms of due diligence associated with the original proposal. Yes, it has taken time to unravel, but the site is too important to have allowed a flawed proposition to progress.

"The Goods Yard appears to be progressing well, and will no doubt be the first success from the Levelling Up programme in the city from a development perspective, which perhaps highlights the importance of selecting an appropriate development partner. Perhaps a lesson to be learned in terms of making progress with other schemes."

The Goods Yard development in Stoke is on coursee for a 2025 completion (Nub News).

Tom Wilmot, joint managing director at Capital and Centric, confirmed that the Goods Yard remained on course for a 2025 completion.

He said: "We're powering ahead at Goods Yard and are on track for the neighbourhood opening early next year. Whilst the site is changing daily, our current focus is on lining up operators that will help us create the destination we've always envisaged. The early interest in the commercial spaces has been super encouraging and we're welcoming more.

"From day one we agreed to hit the ground running, getting from initial drawings to start on site in less than a year. It's been a real team effort and collaboration with Stoke-on-Trent City Council has been fundamental to the success to date."

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

READ MORE: Bet365 Stadium applies for permission to extend players car park

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.