Approval lined up for £60m urban quarter

Landmark plans for a £60m urban quarter next to Stoke-on-Trent’s train station – which are expected to create hundreds of jobs – have been recommended for approval ahead of a planning committee meeting next week.Bowmer & Kirkland and Capital & Centric have brought forward hybrid plans for the redevelopment of the former Goods Yards site, located on Glebe Street.The detailed element of the application involves the construction of a ten-storey building providing 174 apartments for rent, a café-bar in what is currently a derelict Network Rail signal box, the restoration of Vaults Warehouse, a building providing 5,000 sq ft of workspace and/or leisure uses and a new public square.Outline permission is sought for a 150-bed hotel which would be developed as part of the project’s second phase.It is anticipated that 441 full-time equivalent jobs could be created across the development, although this will be dependent on specific occupiers, as well employment opportunities during the construction phase.Plans will be reviewed by the council’s planning committee on 30 March.Approval has been recommended, subject to conditions.