Staffordshire: Stoke steps up

Stoke-on-Trent regenerates to realise the potential of its catchment area. Other small cities could mimic this.

Although not a city, Bury St Edmunds sports a proud history and a cathedral. Its centre was lively and pretty but small. The old Cattle Market in the Suffolk town lay idle, used as a carpark for years since the days when a cattle drove brought stock to market. Then after a vigorous public debate, the old Cattle Market - located adjacent to the town's shopping district - was earmarked for a revamp. Centros Miller, a development firm, drew up ambitious plans and a stunning addition to the town was constructed. The place now hums with activity as folk from surrounding towns and villages pour into Bury to shop, eat, drink and dance. Existing businesses have thrived, while newly opened shops gained traction and profited. Now Stoke-on-Trent has similar plans and equal ambition.

In Staffordshire, the city of Stoke-on-Trent is many times larger than Bury. At 260,000 people it's the centre of the Potteries Urban Area which purportedly has over 360,000 inhabitants. City Sentral, a £350m project with over seventy shops, cafes, eateries, a multi-screen cinema, 80-room hotel, a department store and parking for a thousand cars is to be completed in 2015 in Hanley not far from Stoke's centre.

The mispelt name has caused controversy. But the good people of Stoke shouldn't fret. For, KL Sentral where the main rail station is located in Kuala Lumpur is now the hub of a huge regeneration project surrounding the terminus with skyscrapers. KL Sentral is no more the centre of KL than Hanley is the centre of Stoke. The term Sentral is phonetic not phoney, charming not childish. And as Sue Prince from Destination Staffordshire, the local tourist board, told the BBC "It makes you look twice and I think it's really exciting from a design point of view. People don't have a problem with Vodafone being spelt without a 'ph'. Nobody thinks they are stupid." Nor are the ambitious and increasingly prosperous Malaysians, Ms Prince.

The big thing is the ambition. "We wanted to announce to the world that Stoke is a city up there with the likes of Manchester and Birmingham", Neil Stanhope of Underscore, a design consultancy, explained to the BBC. He has the vision and the local credibility as he used to live in the city.

Stoke already sports great parks, a Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Staffordshire University and a Premier League football club. It's the home town of Arnold Bennett, Peter Wygarde, Robbie Williams and Hugh Dancy. And was the birthplace of Northern Soul in the 1970s. It also embraces a large catchment which includes Newcastle-under-Lyme and Kidsgrove and intends to provide a metropolitan and sophisticated focus for this area.

Other connurbations will clock the changes as Stoke rebrands its image and embraces the modern age. If 'Sentral" is the small price to pay for notoriety and enhanced prosperity, so be it.

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