Reporting local life since 1854 40pTuesday, November 6, 2012

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MICKYLOV E SHISWIDEB OYS

SHOPPING CENTREPLAN SCALED BACK

Revamped proposals drawn up after council land dispute

HOW WEBEAT LUNGCA N C E RPAGES 18&19

Date is set forblackmail pleaA MAN charged withconspiracy to blackmail afterseveral explosions in NorthStaffordshire, will enter hisplea on December 10.

Kevin Proctor, aged 43, ofThe Greenways, Milton, isaccused of conspiring withothers to make anunwarranted demand formoney with menace betweenJune 21 and August 17.

Staffordshire Policelaunched an investigation inAugust following explosionsat houses in Weston Coyney,Blythe Bridge and Cheadle.

Proctor was granted bailuntil the next hearing atStoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

Jason Taft, aged 40, ofBagnall, along with ThomasLeslie, aged 54 and 34-year-oldThomas Leslie, from CountyDown in Northern Ireland arealso charged in connectionwith the case.

BY ALEX CAMPBELLalex.campbell@thesentinel.co.uk

BUILDING work on the £15 millionexpansion of the Potteries ShoppingCentre will begin within months – despitea land dispute with the city council.

Capital Shopping Centres (CSC) is ontrack to open an eight-screen multiplexcinema, six restaurants and a new leis-ure attraction at the Hanley site byFebruary 2015 – creating 180 jobs.

But the plans have had to bescaled back after Stoke-on-TrentCity Council’s controversialrefusal to sell land needed for thefull expansion.

It means one restaurant and aboulevard will not be included inthe new plan, while another

restaurant will be much smaller. Newsof the reduced scheme comes as CSCreiterated its view that Hanley’splanned £350 million City Sentral shop-ping centre will never happen.

And The Sentinel can reveal thatRealis Estates, which is behind the CitySentral plans, is now speculating itsdevelopment could open in ‘early 2016’ –not 2015 as previously pledged.

CSC chief executive Mike But-terworth said: “Our expansion isnot for retail. We’re not pro-moting any more shops, butthere is clear demand for res-

taurants and a cinema.“This has full board approval,

we have got the money and wehave got the tenants. We won’t

name names until the final

deals are signed but they are with ourlawyers already.

“This format has worked at our siteselsewhere in the country but it has beenstifled by the council here and inev-itably the Potteries Shopping Centre isone of our less well-performing centresas a result.”

Just under 3,000 people work at thePotteries Shopping Centre.

But CSC says business will sufferwithout the added facilities due to com-petition from internet shopping.

Its initial plans were given planningpermission by the city council – but theauthority refused to sell land in Brew-ery Street and Bryan Street needed forthe project amid concerns the expan-sion could harm City Sentral.

Martin Breeden, CSC’s asset man-

agement director, below left, said:“We ’re increasingly competing withsupermarkets and the internet.

“We have to give a reason for people tocome out by having a broader offer andextending their shopping day.

“If we were building the PotteriesShopping Centre now, these are thesorts of things we’d look to include.”

Shoppers have welcomed news of thec e n t re ’s latest plan.

Mum-of-two Tara Lee, aged 28, of Han-ley, said: “It sounds great. It would giveus more of a reason to make a day of it asa family.”

What do you think of CSC’s plan?Email us at letters@thesentinel.co.uk

Plans held back for years: Page 6

and toddlerof the year 2012

DOUBLEVOT E S !

Vot i n gfo r m :Pa ge

14

Carer is freedfrom jail cellJAILED carer Frank Wadehas won a cut in his prisonsentence – and was freedi m m e d i at e ly.

In August, Wade admittedattempting to murder his wife.

The 55-year-old s n ap p e dafter seeing Susan Wade’s lifespiral out of control throughdrink and depression.

The Court of Appeal hasnow ruled his two-and-a-half-year sentence was excessive.See Page 2

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