Chatterley Whitfield

Chatterley Whitfield provides a unique opportunity for black to green development and the potential for a large state of the art eco-park. This could be an internationally significant development; one that will host geothermal, solar and wind generation along with a major battery storage facility.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council are working towards a preferred energy scenario for the City Council that includes a high level of energy self-sufficiency from low-carbon sources. The Council’s new energy strategy contains proposals for planned investments over two-, five- and ten-year periods to significantly increase its capacity to generate and supply local, commercially useful decarbonised energy, and secure strategic partnerships for delivery.

The former disused colliery site on the outskirts of Chell and Ball Green in Stoke-on-Trent is owned and managed by the Council and comprises of 10.5 hectares of former mining buildings and structures within the wider setting of the 50-hectare country park with a potential further 90 hectares of development land. By building on previous investment, the next phases of investment would look to simultaneously safeguard its outstanding heritage and deliver a unique sustainable energy facility, exploiting the economic, social and energy potential of the site.

A new vision has been imagined for the site. The vision, implemented as a ten-year development plan, will deliver significant long-lasting and much-needed benefits, including:

• Creating a viable and sustainable future for Chatterley Whitfield, building on its history, sense of place and industrial past
• Indicated site electrical grid headroom can facilitate an AI Data Centre development of 50MW immediate capacity, and up to 150MW following a staged modular build-out. Such an AI Data Centre would drive digital business growth and diversification both onsite, across the city and into North Staffordshire.
• Work will commence on further energy concepts and further master-planning for the site during Spring/Summer 2025. This is to include Solar PV/BESS/data centre waste heat supply/geothermal mine water heat utilisation for surface building space heating, both on the Chatterley Whitfield site and into its surrounding environs – thus, creating an exemplary zero-carbon development, realising a combination of reuse and new-build opportunities to provide a place to work, learn, live and visit.
• Development of new training, skills and employment opportunities, particularly in green industries
• Becoming a centre for research into energy technologies

Why invest in Stoke-on-Trent?

Stoke-on-Trent is an ambitious city with big plans and, through partnership, we drive economic and inclusive growth across the city.

It is a place uniquely defined by its industrial and technological heritage, and, today, through its business base engaged in digital services and e-commerce –  harnessing the very same entrepreneurial spirit to transition fast and re-emerge as one of the UK’s biggest growth centres.

Key reasons to invest:

• Ranked second-fastest-growing economy for post-recession job creation
• Between Dec 2020 to June 2022, house prices increased 5.3%, with England at 2.9%
• 2016-2020, highest GVA growth per head at 21%
• £485m capital investment programme for next 5 years
• Ground-breaking partnership with Homes England to build 3000 new homes + £400m GVA
• Digital transformation supported by the University of Staffordshire, with its 3000-student-strong Digital School, and by Keele University, with their Digital Society Institute researching into AI transformation and application. Also the supply of low-carbon heat as from the mine water heat opportunity. Electrical grid indicated headroom of 150MW, with future enhancement to 230MW to support AI data centre(s) and eco-park development.
• The same location benefits that attracted Michelin in 1926 are, once again, bringing international businesses to Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire. Jaguar Land Rover, Amazon and Molson-Coors are just some of the names investing millions of pounds and creating thousands of jobs here.