Enterprise units, a community learning centre and improvements to canal towpaths and town centre streets could come to Kidsgrove after new proposals for £6 million investment were unveiled.
Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council has backed plans put forward by the Kidsgrove Town Deal Board to reallocate funding for a series of projects.
But progress on upgrades to the town’s railway station – including a transport interchange and parking for 200 cars – has stalled due to the threat of subsidence.
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government has told the Town Deal Board not to commission exploratory work to discover the extent of subsidence caused by decades of coal-mining unless it thinks it has enough money to carry out the remedial work.
Previous funding from the Town Deal has supported the reopening of the leisure centre, the development of a pump track in Newchapel and the installation of artificial sports pitches at The King’s Academy. The funding has also helped to transform Chatterley Valley West from a derelict site into a business park set to support hundreds of new and safeguarded jobs.
Among the new proposals are three new enterprise units at The Meadows, each with 312 sq. ft of floor space, staff kitchen and toilet facilities, a community learning centre at The King’s Academy, further improvements to canal towpaths and the highways around Meadows Road, Station Road, Market Street, The Avenue and Heathcote Street, and public realm upgrades to Kings Street parade. The total budget for the new proposals is £6 million.
Simon Tagg, Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council and a member of the Town Deal Board, said: “Town Deal funding has already delivered a range of projects across the town, improvements that make a practical difference to people’s lives and their enjoyment of Kidsgrove.
“The new proposals are intended to have the same effect, helping residents and businesses take a step forward.”
Cllr Tagg has written to Kidsgrove MP David Williams asking him to use the power of his office to intervene with Department for Transport, Network Rail and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to ensure funding is still in place for the works at Kidsgrove railway station.
