New Stoke-on-Trent Business District Approved
30 Jul 2010
A 1.2 million square foot Central Business District has been approved by Stoke-on-Trent City Council.
The new business district, which will be built on the Unity House site in the city centre, will create more than 4,000 jobs.
The developers Genr8 plan to build the site in a series of stages until final completion in 2017.
Council leader Mohammed Pervez said: "It will help to transform not only Stoke-on-Trent city centre but also the wider North Staffordshire region."
Included in the district will be:
• 750,000 sq ft of office space
• 60,000 sq ft of leisure and retail space
• 80 apartments
• 230,000 sq ft of public space
The plans were approved by a cabinet meeting on Thursday.
It is expected there will be a planning application by the end of the year, with plans for a main tenant to be identified within 12 months.
Thoughts?
£1.5m already spent on
£1.5m already spent on consultants, already behind schedule, developer Genr8 unable to find an employer to fill any office unit......now another 12 months of wasting money!
Andi
God... I like nowt more than
God... I like nowt more than optimism.
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"The skeleton of our complete freedom is already formed.
The flesh and the clothing are lacking".
Tony Genr8 can't even update
Tony Genr8 can't even update any news on its own website (last done sept'09) what chance have we got of them doing any regeneration ?
Andi
Sorry Andi, I was over on the
Sorry Andi, I was over on the Sentinel arguing with Tories about welfare reform.
Point is mate, there's much talk of "benefit dependency" these days, but what about "technocrat dependency"? Why must our elected and un-elected officials sort everything for us?
I'm quite excited by Big Society. Not Cameron's flagship, but the genuine notion that we can do stuff ourselves. Bill Cawley is right to point out how many empty buildings could be put to good use.
Very uncertain times lie ahead. Let's stop relying on the masters (remember, experts built the Titanic) and start steering the mighty ship of State ourselves.
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"The skeleton of our complete freedom is already formed.
The flesh and the clothing are lacking".
Take a look at the new
Take a look at the new buildings at the bottom of Reginald Mitchell Way.
Genisis building has been finnished six months ago can't find any takers, along with the huge building that has its own power plant "no takers".
Are we to become a city of empty buildings?
I share Terry's concerns. The
I share Terry's concerns. The fact is that we still haven't go jobs to replace the ones Thatcher took from the workers, and building these sites won't help that. Look at all these waste of time new buildings in and around Tunstall as well, which no one needs.
This is the trouble when the
This is the trouble when the focus is on the building and not what goes on inside it, it's like a person without passion, pointless.
It's what happens when property has priority over people, assets have priority over aspiration, 'common purpose' has priority over community.
Nicky Davis - non-party political activist - a firm believer in grass roots democracy and strong local communities.
"who's online" Site Admin -
"who's online" Site Admin - very sinister and Kafkaesque. I hope no-one has been telling lies about me.
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"The skeleton of our complete freedom is already formed.
The flesh and the clothing are lacking".
tonyjohnt:"who's online" Site
No lies... We know it is all true....
I'm just running backups then updates and patches.
Nothing to worry about, unless of course it all goes a bit wrong and disappears.
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Site Admin
Shit... I just can't help
Shit... I just can't help getting into trouble.
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"The skeleton of our complete freedom is already formed.
The flesh and the clothing are lacking".
No point having a supply when
No point having a supply when there's no demand. "We'll just plonk a regeneration area" there..."we'll turn Hanley Town Hall into a hotel". Who's going to fill these places when no one wants to come here? For regeneration to be meaningful, instead of just a lot of rhetoric, the city needs to be marketed far more effectively to the outside world - and not just for the Hoard or ceramics. The perception of Stoke-on-Trent as a dirty backwater full of dullards needs to be eradicated because it's visitors, investors and spenders from outside Stoke-on-Trent that we need to attract so that Stoke-on-Trent can grow at the expense of other cities. Business people, especially, invest in areas which are seen as "happening" imaginative places, thus adding value to the brand. Just like a league table of kudos. You'd have to go down to the Vauxhall Conference to find Stoke-on-Trent, regardless of its "cheap labour, ease of access, blah, blah, blah." It's one big competition and Stoke-on-Trent, as usual, is losing. Empty building? Do something about demand before you start spouting on about rebirth.
Alan Gerrard:No point having
I have asked about empty buildings and why they can't be used more effectively. The thing that kills businesses is Business Rates, why don't the council reduce the rent of all their empty units by 50% (minimum) and offer to pay 75% of the business rates for the first 12 months?
This would give start up businesses are real chance.
I would imagine the cost of doing this would be equal to building another big shed that will sit empty and is not needed. By getting businesses back in to the towns it will help regenerate them naturally by people wanting to use them again.
Remember: Britain invented time zones, so that means the French sit down to lunch when we tell them it is 1 O'clock and that is what makes us Great.
Tell me about it Mike.
Tell me about it Mike. Couldn't agree more. Short-termism at its worst. They want it all roads.
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