Council leaders say greenfield land previously earmarked for housing will be 'safeguarded' after purchasing it from a developer.

The 148-acre site at Berryhill Fields is one of six pieces of land Stoke-on-Trent City Council has acquired from St Modwen Properties for a 'minimal fee'.

Berryhill Fields was earmarked for up to 1,300 homes under the now-abandoned joint local plan for Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle, sparking a long-running campaign to save the beauty spot from development.

While the site was later assessed as being 'not currently viable' and dropped from local plan consideration, campaigners called for it to be protected permanently.

Their fears increased in 2024 when the city council sold its stake in Berryhill Fields landowner Stoke-on-Trent Regeneration Ltd, a joint venture with St Modwen. But now that the council has secured full ownership of the land, it says it intends to ensure the site is safeguarded as public open space.

The council plans to work with Staffordshire Wildlife Trust and other landowners to 'maximise its potential as a natural asset', and will also engage with local residents over the coming months.

Councillor Sarah Hill, cabinet member for finance, anti-poverty and corporate services at the city council, said: "We believe this is a best-value use of council resources because acquiring the package of land enables us to gain control of some key strategic sites that have great potential, both in the short and long term.

"These include land at Berryhill Fields, where acquiring the site enables its protection and enhancement as part of a wider area of publicly accessible open space with improved biodiversity."

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Five other pieces of land have been acquired by the council as part of the deal with St Modwen:

• Mossfield Road, which runs through Mossfield Industrial Estate and connects to Berryhill Fields. The council plans to upgrade the road to highways adoption standard, tackling issues with drainage and flooding.
• Land to the east of Woodpark Lane and Lightwood Lane, Longton. The 22-acre site is part of a larger 'broad location' earmarked for up to 3,000 homes in the current draft local plan. The council says options are being reviewed 'in terms of potential development on the land'.
• Land at Newport Lane, Burslem. This 1.45-acre parcel of land will support delivery of the multi-million-pound Newport Lane Link Road, a key project in the local Bus Service Improvement Plan.
• Land known as South Stoke Play Park, Edgbaston Drive, Trentham Lakes (1.93 acres). The council plans to improve the existing children's play area and multi-use games area as part of its £500,000 parks and greenspace capital improvement project.
• The headlease for Festival Park. The council says it has put in place arrangements for the management of the retail park and surrounding greenspace.

Campaigners have described Berryhill Fields as Stoke-on-Trent's 'green lungs', serving as both a sanctuary for wildlife and an important leisure space for local residents.

Dave Burgess, vice chair of the Save Berryhill Fields Action Group, welcomed the announcement.

He said: "If my understanding is correct this sounds like very good news for Berryhill Fields. Just the other day I took some video of deer on the land with my phone. It's quite unique to have a wildlife corridor like that so close to the city centre.

"It's very well used by people for walking and leisure as well. Not just residents in Eaton Park but people from Bentilee, Bucknall and other areas too.

"Our group made representations during the local plan consultation on the need to protect greenfield sites in the city. The council has a very high housing target but it should be looking to develop brownfield sites and bring heritage buildings back into use, instead of building on greenfield land."

The council has not revealed how much it paid St Modwen for the land.