Stoke-on-Trent City Council has agreed an extra £1.5 million in funding for Tunstall, bringing the total investment in the town this financial year to around £10 million.
The additional money will support public realm and regeneration work in the town centre, including improvements to the Tower Square Conservation Area, better shop frontages, reducing empty units, and new planting and play area schemes. Residents will be asked for their views on how the funding is spent.
Levelling Up funding redirected
The council's Cabinet also agreed to reallocate around £1.6 million of Levelling Up funding that was originally earmarked for the Tunstall Library, Baths and Drill Hall development. The planning application for that scheme was refused on heritage grounds because it did not meet the standard required for transforming a Grade II listed building.
The funding has a March 2028 spending deadline. Rather than risk losing it, the council is redirecting it to refurbish 10 council-owned properties on Queen Street, Burslem, as part of the multi-million-pound regeneration already under way there.
Council commitment to town centre
Councillor Finlay Gordon-McCusker, Cabinet Member for Growth, Regeneration and Transport, said the investment represents money on a scale Tunstall has not seen in a long time. He described the Library, Baths and Drill Hall decision as a disappointment but said the council was not going to let the funding sit idle because one scheme could not go ahead.
The council intends to ensure Tunstall receives almost exactly the same amount of money under the new arrangement, so it does not miss out. The council said it still wants to see a future for the Library and Baths building and will continue working on that.
