What’s new: Plans have been submitted to convert Portland House on Newcastle Street, Burslem, into a residential children’s home.
Worth knowing: The Grade II Listed building dates back to the 1830s and has previously been used as a County Technical School, Teachers’ Centre, School of Art and offices.
The big picture: The proposal is one of a number of recent planning applications across Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle-under-Lyme and the Staffordshire Moorlands.
This article is based on reporting from the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), a BBC funded initiative set up to strengthen reporting on local democratic issues. The Staffordshire Signal has taken part in the scheme since September 2026, which means we're able to draw on a selection of LDRS stories alongside our own.
An historic building currently providing office space in Burslem could be converted into a children’s home.
Portland House dates back to the 1830s, when it was built as a merchant’s house, and is Grade II Listed.
A planning application has now been submitted to Stoke-on-Trent City Council to change the use of the three-storey building on Newcastle Street to a residential home providing care to up to five children. Listed Building Consent is also being sought for the change.
A planning statement submitted as part of the application said the site was intended to provide Ofsted-regulated care for children aged eight to 17, supported by continuous 24-hour staffing. It added:
“The area is well served by local schools and by public transport along Newcastle Street and the B5051, making the site a highly accessible and sustainable location for the proposed use.
“The building has a long history of institutional use. Following its residential origins it served as a County Technical School from 1948, later a Teachers’ Centre and home to the School of Art, and it is currently in use as offices. The site sits within its own grounds, set back from Newcastle Street behind mature boundary trees and enclosed by a stone and brick boundary wall, with private off-street parking for 10 cars together with private amenity/garden space of approximately 500 sq m.
“The home will operate in accordance with a management plan covering staffing and shift patterns, the type of care provided, behaviour and noise management (including quiet hours), security measures, strict visitor controls, a Good Neighbour Policy with a dedicated neighbour contact and complaints procedure and parking and transport management, all of which the applicant would be content to secure by condition.”
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Listed below are planning applications published online by councils in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire in recent weeks.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council
26/FUL/00968 and 26/LBC/00969: Change of use to children’s care home (Use Class C2) at Portland House, Newcastle Street, Burslem, ST6 3QJ
26/LBC/00584: Solar PV on roof and small BESS (battery energy storage system) unit to be installed external to building (fixed to wall) at Aynsley Tea Room, Longton Park, Trentham Road, Longton, ST3 4AZ
26/HOU/00982: Side and rear extension at 11 Dartmouth Place, Meir, ST3 5NU
26/FUL/00939: Change of use of former car showroom to builders’ merchants with rooftop parking and associated works at Jaguar House, Victoria Square, Hanley, ST1 4JH
26/AD/00940: Advertisement consent for one illuminated pylon sign and two fascia advertisement signs for the builders’ merchants at Jaguar House, Victoria Square, Hanley, ST1 4JH
26/FUL/00900: Replacement rooftop plant installation, new plant deck, parapet edge protection and gated access to main entrance at Central Mortuary, Stoke Old Road, Hartshill, ST4 6ES
Newcastle Borough Council
26/00749/FUL: Erection of brick built outbuilding for storage at 90 Heaton Terrace, Porthill, ST5 8PL
26/00745/FUL: Agricultural access off Nantwich Road at Carr House Farm, Carr Lane, Audley, ST7 8DP
26/00744/FUL: External alterations to garage to facilitate the continued use of 5 The Greenway as a care home for up to two children (approved under certificate of lawfulness 22/00276/PLD) cared for by up to three carers at 5 The Greenway, May Bank, ST5 0RY
26/00716/FUL: Demolition of existing single storey rear extensions and front porch, single storey front and side extension, two storey rear and side extensions, new garage and associated landscaping at Racecourse Farm, Three Mile Lane, Newcastle, ST5 5HJ
Staffordshire Moorlands District Council
CON/2026/0081: Consultation received from Peak District National Park: NP/SM/1026/1027 – erection of an agricultural building to provide a covered winter feeding area, cattle handling and hay storage, together with an access track on land to the south of B5054, Hulme End Road, Hulme End
CON/2026/0080: Conversion of agricultural barns attached to farmhouse to a residential annex, demolition of rear barn and replacement with smaller structure as part of annex at Froghall Farm, Knowsley Hill, Longnor, SK17 0PW
DOC/2026/0102: Discharge of conditions 5 and 7 in relation to SMD/2026/0184 (self build bungalow with means of access and associated hard and soft landscaping works) on land off Basford View, Cheddleton, ST13 7HJ
CON/2026/0079: Application for a Non-Material Amendment to conditions 27 (soil handling), 30 (CEMP ecology), 31 (bird and bat boxes), 32 (tree protection), 36 (dust monitoring), 40 (noise monitoring), 45 (soil storage), 49 (ground water monitoring), and 56 (restoration and aftercare) and 60 (Quarry Site Liaison Committee) of planning permission ref. SCC/23/0051/FULL-MAJ to extend the timing of the submissions of details at Captains Barn Farm Quarry, Leek Road, Moorville, Cellarhead, ST3 5BE
SMD/2026/0489: Installation of two air to air heat pumps units on semi-detached property, neither visible from road, at Abbotsfield , Buxton Road, Leek, ST13 6NF
SMD/2026/0488: Erection of a general purpose agricultural building, formation of an agricultural access track and associated works on land off Coppice Lane, Winnothdale
SMD/2026/0487: Change of use from Class E(e) medical/ health to Class E(c) (iii) other appropriate services in a commercial, business or service locality (office) at 1 Charles Street, Cheadle, ST10 1EE
SMD/2026/0485: Variation of conditions 1, 2, 3 and 4 relating to SMD/2024/0023 (removal or variation of conditions 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 and 15 of SMD/2022/0304 – replacement dwelling) at Blakeley, Reacliffe Road, Rudyard, ST13 8RS
SMD/2026/0484: First floor extension to form dressing room and en-suite at Copper Beech House, Godley Lane, Dilhorne, ST10 2PF
SMD/2026/0483: Juliet balcony and alteration of roof to pitched to first floor rear elevation at Toll Gate Cottage, Tean Road, Cheadle, ST10 1TZ
SMD/2026/0481: Existing Lawful Development Certificate for the erection of dwellinghouse, summerhouse and conservatory and associated change of use of the land to provide a garden, access and parking area at Longcroft Lodge, Bond House Lane, Horton, ST13 8PU
SMD/2026/0480: Existing Lawful Development Certificate for an existing construction of stables and formation of manege at stables at Longcroft Lodge, Bond House Lane, Horton, ST13 8PU
SMD/2026/0479: Erection of a storage building associated with landscaping business at Leys House, Main Road, Whiston, ST10 2JE
SMD/2026/0459: Conversion of existing domestic outbuilding to ancillary living accommodation at Knowle Style Farm, The Hollands, Biddulph Moor, ST8 7LE
SMD/2026/0465: Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Screening Opinion Request for the proposed installation of an approximately 34km underground water transfer pipeline between Carsington Reservoir and Tittesworth Water Treatment Works (C2T), together with associated water treatment infrastructure at Tittesworth
SMD/2026/0429: New timber building for use as a café/shop at Dell Filling Station, Star Bank, Oakamoor
SMD/2026/0482: Demolition and replacement/extension of existing two storey rear part of the dwelling at Little Brookhouse Farm, Brookhouse Lane, Cheddleton, ST13 7DF
SMD/2026/0476: Formation of riding arena and associated works on land east of Edge Lane, Endon
SMD/2026/0341: Retrospective application for replacement boundary fence at 1 Basford Bridge Lane, Cheddleton, ST13 7EQ
DOC/2026/0062: Discharge of conditions 3, 4 and 16 in relation to SMD/2021/0550 (approval of reserved matters, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale for 48 dwellings) at former Fole Dairy, Uttoxeter Road, Fole, Uttoxeter, ST14 5EW
Written by Kerry Ashdown, Local Democracy Reporter.
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