One of Stoke-on-Trent’s largest and most historically significant sites could be opened up to a new wave of commercial investment under plans to combine heritage regeneration with digital infrastructure and clean energy.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council is developing a new vision for the approximately 100-hectare Chatterley Whitfield site which includes exploring opportunities for a data centre and minewater heat technologies alongside wider commercial development.
The proposals, which go before the council’s Cabinet on September 8, represent a significant attempt to create an economically sustainable future for the former colliery while attracting private investment to the site.
Chatterley Whitfield is the most complete surviving deep coal mining site in England. Its Scheduled Monument contains a number of Grade II and Grade II* listed buildings but remains on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register.
Rather than relying solely on public funding to preserve the complex, the council wants to explore commercial uses capable of generating income which can be reinvested in restoring and maintaining its historic buildings.
A key strand will investigate digital and heat commercial developments, including the potential for data centre investment and the use of water in the former mine workings as a source of low-carbon heat.
The council is proposing to allocate £185,000 from its capital contingency fund to carry out further work on the scheme, with the intention of helping secure direct investment.
If Cabinet backs the proposals, the next stage will include technical studies, stakeholder engagement and, crucially, market discussions with potential investors and commercial partners.
Councillor Finlay Gordon-McCusker, cabinet member for transport, infrastructure, planning and regeneration, said the approach could transform the site from a financial challenge into an economic asset.
He said: “By bringing heritage together with new commercial uses, we have an opportunity to change the narrative around the site – turning it from a potential risk and liability into a genuine asset for the city.
“This vision gives us a way forward that can protect what makes Chatterley Whitfield so important while creating new opportunities for investment and bringing the site back into active use.”
The commercial plans would sit alongside proposals to make more of Chatterley Whitfield’s heritage and natural environment accessible to the public.
Councillor Gordon-McCusker added: “Chatterley Whitfield helped power Stoke-on-Trent’s industrial past. Through heritage, innovation and clean energy, this vision could see it play a part in powering our future too.”
The proposals could prove particularly significant if the council can establish a viable commercial case for minewater heat or digital infrastructure at scale, potentially creating an unusual investment proposition combining energy, technology and one of Britain’s most important industrial heritage sites.
