Taxpayers are providing an extra £4 million towards a major levelling up project in Stoke-on-Trent – to cover 'abnormal costs'.

The Levelling Up Partnership (LUP) funding will pay for additional work at the Goods Yard scheme in Stoke, ensuring that it can be completed as originally planned.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council originally allocated £16 million of Levelling Up Fund cash to the Goods Yard, which will include 174 flats along with workspaces, restaurants and bars on the former site of Swift House, next to Stoke Station. The Goods Yard has made by far the most progress out of all of Stoke-on-Trent's levelling up projects, and developer Capital and Centric expects it open early in the new year.

But additional costs relating to issues such as contaminated ground have emerged, which could have resulted in the scheme being scaled back. Council leaders say that the LUP money means this will not be necessary.

The Goods Yard will include 174 flats along with workspaces, restaurants and bars (Nub News).

Councillor Alastair Watson, cabinet member for financial sustainability and corporate resources, said: "The £4m Levelling Up Partnership money will contribute towards the Goods Yard development to cover a number of abnormal costs, for example in relation to contaminated ground and costs associated with the refurbishment of heritage buildings. This will allow the development to be constructed as originally envisaged without the need to reduce its specification."

The first phase of the Goods Yard includes new build elements such as the 10-storey apartment block, as well as the restoration of the locally-listed vaulted warehouse, which is being converted into a food and drink hall with canalside outdoor seating. A report on the LUP funding, which went to a cabinet meeting earlier this month, stated that there was 'a gap between investment by the City and disposal value of circa £4 million'.

The council had originally proposed to the government that this gap could be plugged by diverting some of the £20 million of Levelling Up Fund cash allocated to the Etruscan Square project in Hanley. Construction work on Etruscan Square has still not started, after the council's Labour administration scrapped the original plans last year.

Additional costs have emerged, meaning the scheme may be scaled back (Nub News).

According to the report, diverting the Etruscan Square funding 'may not be feasible', with the government suggesting the LUP funding could be used instead.

Stoke-on-Trent has been awarded a total of £20 million of LUP funds. Other schemes to be funded include a £6.5 million public urban realm programme, an advanced green skills centre at Stoke-on-Trent College and a project to bring Burslem Indoor Market back into use.

Capital and Centric have been approached for comment.

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