The Economy and Place Scrutiny Committee of Newcastle-under-Lyme Council met on 11 September 2025 to discuss the Borough Local Plan, the Civic Pride (Empowering Our Communities) Strategy, and the Town Deal and Future High Street Funds. The committee was also scheduled to review its work programme.

Borough Local Plan 2040

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the progress of the Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Local Plan 2040. The Local Plan sets out the vision and framework for how the borough is expected to grow up to 2040, including targets for jobs and homes, and guides development to sustainable locations. Once adopted, the plan will form part of the statutory Development Plan for the borough.

The Borough Council submitted the Local Plan for examination on 20 December 2024, and Inspector Anne Jordan was appointed to examine it. The Inspector considers evidence provided by the council and any representations made by local people and interested parties.

There are three potential outcomes to the examination process:

• The plan is found to be sound and legally compliant as submitted.
• Changes are considered necessary to make it legally compliant and sound.
• The plan is deemed unsound and/or not legally compliant, with any deficiencies unable to be remedied through modifications, and the council is asked to withdraw the plan from examination.

The report pack stated that the most common outcome for plan examinations involves modifications. Proposed main modifications are subject to public consultation for six weeks. The council has requested that the Inspector consider main modifications during her consideration of the Local Plan. At the end of the examination, the Inspector will send a report to the council with her findings, including final, recommended main modifications. After that, the plan, incorporating the main modifications, can be adopted by the council. Upon adoption, the plan would become part of the statutory development plan for the borough, replacing most policies in the Joint Core Strategy 2009 and legacy Newcastle-under-Lyme Local Plan 2003.

A revised version of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF )¹ was published by the government in December 2024. The report pack stated that the council faces a situation where the emerging plan provides for less than 80% of local housing need. As such, the Local Planning Authority will be expected to begin work on a new plan under the revised plan-making system provided for under the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023² to address any shortfall in housing need.

The Local Plan examination hearing sessions took place at Castle House, commencing on 20 May and ending on 26 June 2025. During the examination hearing sessions, the council agreed to prepare responses to several action points raised by the Inspector.

In August 2025, the Inspector set out her initial thoughts and findings following the conclusion of the initial Local Plan examination hearing sessions. She indicated that the Local Plan complies with the legal Duty to Cooperate test³ and that a case for taking land out of the Green Belt⁴ to meet housing and employment needs had been made. Subject to the council carrying out additional work to justify the plan's approach and various specified modifications, the Inspector stated that the plan could be taken forward to adoption.

The additional work required is set out below:

• Accessibility and the Transport Implications of the Plan The Inspector has agreed with the council that a link road between the A525 Keele Road to the A53 Whitmore Road is justified and necessary.
• Town Centre Sites The council has submitted information to the Inspector following the examination hearings in relation to town centre developments and the provision of surface-level car parks in the town centre.
• Minerals Safeguarding The council is working with Staffordshire County Council as Minerals Planning Authority to provide further assurance to the Inspector on the impact of mineral resources on several allocations proposed in the Local Plan.
• Site Selection Flood Risk The Inspector has asked for more information about flood risk for several allocations in the Local Plan.
• Keele University The Inspector has asked for more information about the timetable for delivery of the University sites proposed as allocations in the Plan and whether changes are necessary to policy wording.
• BW1 Chatterley Valley This is an employment site. The Inspector has raised the issue of Minerals Safeguarding.
• Land at Junction 16 (AB2) The Inspector has asked for more information relating to the size of the site and whether alternative options were considered in this location, potentially for less employment space and involving a release of less Green Belt land. Minerals safeguarding is also highlighted.
• Housing Site Allocations The Inspector has provided her views on the suitability of certain individual sites and has asked for further work to be undertaken to justify other sites:
  • AB12 Diglake Street and AB33 Land off Nantwich Road (Audley sites) – The Inspector recommends removing these sites from the Local Plan alongside sites CH13 (land at Castletown Grange) and KS3 (Land at Blackbank Road).
  • CT1 Land at Red Street, Chesterton – The Inspector has asked for more information on Green Belt impacts, the need for traffic calming, the makeup of a local retail centre on the site, and issues of historic mining and contamination.
  • SP11 Lyme Park Silverdale – The Inspector has asked for further consideration to be given to the site masterplan for SP11. The council's view is that the County Park element of SP11 Lyme Park, Silverdale is retained in the Green Belt.
  • BL18 Land at Clough Hall – The Inspector has asked the council to provide an assessment of impacts on a Site of Biological Importance.
  • TB19 – Land South of Newcastle Golf Club – Further consideration is required of the Green Belt boundary for the site, which currently includes areas of landscaped open space.
  • Removal of site G&T8 Land West of Silverdale Business Park – The Inspector has requested removal of the Gypsy and Traveller site proposed at Silverdale.
• Compensatory Improvements The Inspector has asked for further information that compensatory improvements for Green Belt sites are deliverable through the Local Plan.
• Neighbourhood Planning Requirements The council submitted further information, following the examination hearing sessions, on how neighbourhood plan housing requirements could be defined.
• Other policy wording The Inspector intends to make comments in due course on suggested changes to policies, such as Policy SA1 General Development Principles and SE9 Historic Environment, as well as those presented in the Schedule of Modifications.

The council has responded to the Inspector and stated that it intends to provide all the newly requested information on the matters raised above by 30 September 2025 at the latest.

Civic Pride (Empowering Our Communities) Strategy 2025 – 28

The committee was scheduled to consider the draft Civic Pride (Empowering Our Communities) Strategy 2025 – 28 and provide feedback in advance of adoption.

The council launched its Civic Pride campaign in October 2024, aiming to boost pride across the borough and strengthen its reputation as a place which is clean, safe, and friendly. The campaign included a week of action in Newcastle town centre, followed by a programme in Kidsgrove, Loggerheads, Chesterton and Holditch, Crackley and Red Street, Audley, Bradwell and Porthill, Knutton and Cross Heath, Clayton and Westlands, Wolstanton and May Bank, Westbury Park and Northwood, and Silverdale and Thistleberry.

The Clayton and Westlands event on 11 June also hosted the launch of the new £22,000 Civic Pride Investment Fund, where elected members were allocated £500 each to support community priorities in their respective wards via a simple application process. The first round of applications saw a total of £5,500 awarded to 5 projects. Further events are planned for the remainder of 2025 in the other neighbourhoods in the borough, as well as a further 2 rounds of the Civic Pride Investment Fund.

The draft strategy states that at the heart of how Newcastle-Under-Lyme Borough Council works is listening to communities and finding ways to give residents power over their own lives and the neighbourhoods they live in. The strategy was developed by listening to what communities have said and hearing from people who live, work, study, and enjoy Newcastle.

The priorities in the County Council's Communities Strategy will be mirrored, focusing on the Great Places Where We Live, Connected Communities, and The Way the Council Listens, Talks, and Acts.

The draft strategy is intended to guide how Newcastle Borough Council works with its communities, how its communities can be involved in decision-making and local service delivery, and to support the council's workforce and partners. It is to provide clarity and guidance for residents, staff and volunteers, partner organisations (through Newcastle Partnership Board), town and parish councils, organised voluntary, community and social enterprise groups, children and young people, students, and businesses.

Consultation is in progress with this group of stakeholders to sense-check the draft strategy before formally adopting it later this year (2025), subject to the feedback received. The consultation is running online for 6 - 8 weeks from July to September 2025.

Town Deal and Future High Street Funds Update

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the Town Deal and Future High Street Funds projects. The council has secured Future High Street Funding and Town Deal Funds for the redevelopment of several key regeneration sites across the Town Centre and the wider Borough.

Future High Street Fund

Work across this programme has now been completed, and the fund has been spent.

• Market improvements Works to the digital screen, benching, and planters will be completed by the end of September.
• Astley Place Capital&Centric are in the final stages of the procurement of the contractor for the works for a commencement in October. Completion is expected by the end of 2026. Part of the new square created within the development will be a new small-scale music venue supported by Joules Brewery and a newly created CIC.
• Castle Car Park The new car park has now opened and is fully operational.
• McCarthy and Stone Residential Development McCarthy and Stone's planning application was approved by the planning committee at its April 25 meeting. It is now anticipated that the works will commence in the autumn of 2025, with completion in later 2026, at the same time as the Capital&Centric works.
• Ryepark Capital&Centric are in the final stages of procurement of the contractor for the works. The first stages of the residential elements for Aspire and Capital&Centric will commence in October 2025 and be complete by late 2026. Some initial advance works will commence in early September – hoarding and earth/levels works.

Newcastle Town Deal

• Karparc Capital & Centric are in the final stages of procuring a contractor for the works. Works are expected to start in the summer of 2025 and be completed by the summer of 2027.
• Astley Performing Arts Centre This Centre is now open and operational.
• Knutton and Chesterton
  • Knutton: Aspire has commenced works on the residential development at High Street. Works on the former community centre site development by Aspire are due to commence shortly. The extension to the Enterprise Centre is now substantially complete but is awaiting connection to a sub-station before the units can be occupied, which will probably be September. The plans for a village hall are at a crossroads in that there is no end user been identified and as such with no end user the council is unable to start construction works. Alternative plans for the site are now being developed for the Town Deal Board to consider later in the year, once options have been identified. The development of the football changing rooms at the Wammy is now complete, and Newcastle Town Football Club have hosted an informal open day at the site to try out the facilities. A formal opening ceremony will be held later in the year.
  • Cross Street Chesterton: The Town Deal funding agreement to support the remediation works for Cross St Phase 2 and Phase 3/4 was entered into in September 2024. A start on site for Phase 2 (43 Affordable Rented units) was achieved in October 2024, with developer Keon Homes. Phased handovers will commence from late 2025, and this Phase is expected to complete fully by June 2026. Planning permission for Phase 3, which will deliver 39 social rented apartments and bungalows for over 55's, was granted in September 2024. The contract with Countryside was entered into in March 2025 and is expected to complete by November 2026.
• Zanzibar Enterprise Units A planning application for the development has been approved, and works are due to start in the Autumn.
• Walking and Cycling Provision Works for these schemes has begun through Staffordshire County Council, with cycling improvements implemented along George Street, at Gallowstree Roundabout, and works along Barracks Road commenced in July.
• Sustainable Travel The works to the new bus entrance to Keele University have now commenced, with completion later in the autumn.
• Digital Society – 53 Iron Market (Keele in Town) Keele in Town is now fully open and operational.
• EV Charging Points These works form part of the new Castle Car Park project and are now fully operational.
• Digital infrastructure ITS Technology Group Ltd has now completed the installation of the new cables through the ductwork. A procurement exercise for the service provider has commenced to deliver the broadband service. Four community centres have been selected to receive a funded provision of both a free broadband connection as well as a managed wi-fi solution. The four centres are: Silverdale Athletic Football Club, Marsh Hall Community Centre, Porthill Park Cricket Club, and Northwood Lane Community Centre. There will then be a second phase utilising Town Deal funding for additional community centre sites that have expressed an interest.

Kidsgrove Town Deal

• Chatterley Valley This element of the Town Deal project is complete.
• Kidsgrove Train Station works The previously reported issue with the costs of car park underpinning due to mine works underground has now been resolved, and the Town Deal Board have agreed a revised scope of works to develop the station with a refurbishment to the existing buildings and car park works outside the area that has been indicated for underground mine remediation or the 'underpinning zone'. The Project Adjustment Form has been submitted to MHCLG for approval.
• Canal Pathways Works by the Canal and Rover Trust have now been completed. An additional area, which connects the canal towpath to the Avenue, was included in the project. An extension to the scope has been agreed by the Kidsgrove Town Deal Board as part of the reallocation of funds from the Shared Service Hub. This is to enable improvements to a Public Right of Way on a path connecting the canal towpath with a nearby residential area.
• Community Learning Hub on the Kings Academy site Kidsgrove Town Deal Board has agreed for delivery of a community learning hub on the Kings Academy site. This project is under development
• Enterprise Units on the Meadows Kidsgrove Town Deal Board has agreed for delivery of small-scale enterprise units on the Meadows. This has been submitted for planning permission.
• Highway Improvements The highway improvements at The Meadows / Station Road, and Market St / The Avenue / Heathcote St, along with public realm improvements by Kings Street parade These projects are in delivery with a first informal consultation having taken place with surrounding properties on the proposed highway changes.