Growth Deal joint plan

Priorities: Keele and Knutton

Keele University Growth Corridor

  • Keele University is one of the UK's top ranked universities and together with its Science and Innovation Park is a key motor of the North Staffordshire economy.
  • Overall the university currently contributes £125 million per year into the local economy and supports around 3,400 FTE jobs in Stoke-on-Trent and the borough.
  • The university has plans for its Science and Innovation Park to double in size thereby providing over 7,000 FTE jobs over the next two decades.
  • We recognise the sub-regional and national importance of working together to promote the opportunities for achieving sustainable growth in this location, initially through completion of a comprehensive masterplan which will both enable additional job creation and enable the building of up to 1,200 new high quality homes utilising the former Keele Golf Course.

Knutton

  • Knutton is 1.5 miles from the main Keele University campus, one mile from Newcastle Town centre and is one of the most deprived wards in Newcastle.
  • This former mining village has benefitted from past regeneration initiatives but there remains work to do in order to strengthen its sense of place and improve its sustainability.
  • By working together using a one-public-estate approach, and with partners the aim is to ensure that any future development is comprehensively planned to strengthen its identity as an urban village and enabling tangible improvement in the physical, social and environmental infrastructure.
  • By taking this one-public-estate approach we'll bring forward a deliverable supply of housing in Knutton which will also support the medium to long-term plans for the growth of Keele University and its Science and Innovation Park.