Regeneration project brings thousands of jobs back to Stoke
24 October 2019 | 2 min read
Working on behalf of St Modwen Properties, our planning team have secured outline planning permission for almost 22 hectares of industrial and logistics development on the former Etruria Valley site in Stoke.
This is the next phase of regeneration on the former Shelton Iron and Steelworks site which, when complete, will see the culmination of decades of work transforming 120 hectares of disused land back into use and will have generated thousands of jobs for the local community.
Production at the steelworks halted in 1978 and the site remained dormant for 10 years until regeneration plans were put in place. Since then the land has been reclaimed and planning permission has been secured for a range of employment, leisure, retail and residential uses across the site.
Our team were originally commissioned to submit three separate planning applications on the southern part of Etruria Valley in 2002, and those developments, including a new Vodafone call centre, were completed in the following year.
As part of these developments, junction capacity, infrastructure and drainage improvements were provided to serve the remainder of the site in the years that followed and work was undertaken to create a vision for the site of transformative regeneration, later encapsulated within the 2013 Etruria Valley SPD.
From 2011 onwards, we were commissioned to submit outline applications for B1, B2 and B8 uses across later phases of the site, securing consent for some c.6,000 sqm of office space, c.6,000sq m of B2 industrial space and c.20,000sq m of B8 storage and distribution space, in addition to additional infrastructure improvement works. In 2019, RPS secured outline consent for a further 22ha of industrial development.
Over the years, our planner team has submitted applications to diversify the offer on the site, securing consent for a new Ambulance Hub for the West Midlands Ambulance Service and for an out of centre leisure facility on behalf of bet365.
About RPS
Founded in 1970, RPS, A Tetra Tech Company (RPS) is a leading global professional services firm of 5,000 consultants and service providers. Operating in 125 countries, working across six continents we define, design and manage projects that create shared value to a complex, urbanising and resource-scarce world.
RPS delivers a broad range of services in six sectors: property, energy, transport, water, defence and government services and resources. Services provided across RPS' six sectors cover twelve service clusters: project and program management, design and development, water services, environment, advisory and management consulting, exploration and development, planning and approvals, health, safety and risk, oceans and coastal, laboratories, training and communications, creative and digital services.
RPS stands out for its clients by using its deep expertise to solve problems that matter, making them easy to understand. Making complex easy.
For further information, please visit www.rpsgroup.com.