More shops to be bought by council to redevelop

A council is set to buy two more shops in a town centre as part of plans to regenerate the area.

Stafford Borough Council had already purchased the former Guildhall Shopping Centre and former Co-op department store.

The demolition cost for the premises was lower than estimated, a council report said, which enabled the purchase of the additional sites using money available from the Future High Streets Fund.

The sites have not been publicly identified due to commercial sensitivity.

The authority was given £14.3m by the government in 2020 to help fund the town centre regeneration project.

Although work has started to demolish the shopping centre and department store, their historic frontages will be retained, with the sites retained for future commercial, retail and residential use.

The decision to buy the additional sites was agreed by cabinet members at a meeting on Thursday.

"The acquisitions perfectly fit into our commitment to transforming the town centre in Stafford and form part of the wider regeneration programme which seeks to deliver urban regeneration to Stafford town centre," said councillor Rob Kenney.

He added he was "positive" the borough's residents would also agree to their purchase using the remainder of the Future High Streets Fund grant.

"This investment into all the acquisition sites will generate not only further investment into those sites but wider investment into Stafford town centre generally, creating a place for people to visit, to live in, to work in and relax in."

The authority added it would be meeting with a number of potential investors later in the month.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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