Tunstall is set for its biggest single-year investment in years, after the council agreed an extra £1.5 million of funding for public realm and regeneration work in the town centre - taking total investment this financial year to around £10 million.
The money will go towards further improvements to the town centre and 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 exactly how it's spent.
The full list of projects being funded in Tunstall this year are:
- £4 million from Community Regeneration Partnership Funds for town centre public realm improvements
- Up to £225,000 for Designing Out Crime works, including upgrades to the town centre and Memorial Gardens
- £3.04 million to develop the former Lily Gertrude Court site, delivering 14 new affordable homes
- A £700,000 S106 Affordable Fund grant, reserved for a future Tunstall Library and Baths site project once it's re-marketed for regeneration
- Work with National Grid to remove and relocate the electrical sub-station inside Tunstall Baths, clearing the way for future development
- The new £1.5 million investment announced today
The council’s Cabinet also agreed to reallocate around £1.6 million of Levelling Up funding, originally earmarked for the Tunstall Library, Baths and Drill Hall development, after the planning application for that scheme was refused on heritage grounds - it didn't meet the standard required for transforming a Grade II listed building.
That funding has a March 2028 spending deadline, so rather than risk losing it, the council is redirecting it to refurbish 10 council-owned properties on Queen Street, Burslem, adding to the multi-million-pound regeneration already under way there.
Councillor Finlay Gordon-McCusker, Cabinet Member for Growth, Regeneration and Transport, said: "£10 million going into Tunstall this year is investment on a scale the town hasn't seen in a long time - real money for a town centre that's improving, new affordable homes, and safer streets people can see and feel the difference from.
"We won't pretend the Library, Baths and Drill Hall decision isn't a disappointment. But we're not going to let good money sit idle because one scheme couldn't go ahead. We've moved it straight into another regeneration project in Burslem, so it stays working for Stoke-on-Trent instead of being handed back to Government. We are making sure Tunstall gets almost exactly the same amount of money under this new arrangement so it doesn't miss out.
"We still want to see a future for the Library and Baths building, and we'll keep working on that. In the meantime, Tunstall gets the investment it's been promised - and residents will have a direct say in how the new funding is spent."
