City chiefs vote to disband regeneration quango

A QUANGO responsible for running a £1.6bn regeneration project is to be disbanded.

The vote by members of Stoke-on-Trent City Council came as its director of regeneration Tom Macartney announced he was quitting the £150,000-a-year post.

Stoke City Council’s cabinet met to discuss the future of the North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership – a joint project between public, private and voluntary sectors to transform the area by 2030 – and subsequently voted to disband it.

The partnership has been recently hit by the withdrawals of Newcastle Borough Council and Staffordshire Moorlands District Council.

It is believed the future of up to 350 jobs have now been placed in doubt by the decision as city council cabinet chiefs chose to open talks with Staffordshire County Council about forming a new Local Enterprise Partnership, the groups set to replace regional development agencies from March 2012.

Council leader Cllr Mohammed Pervez said: “The city council remains committed to the delivery of a sustainable regeneration programme in North Staffordshire.

“There are currently a lot of Government changes underway which is affecting the governance of these schemes but importantly has not and will not affect the delivery.

“We are currently looking to pursue a Local Enterprise Partnership for Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire and are working with partners on how this will take shape.

“By forming an LEP rather than continuing with the current NSRP partnership it will provide the area with more opportunities for future funding.”

The council cabinet’s decision came just a day after its regeneration director Tom Macartney, also managing director of the NSRP, quit his post.

Mr Macartney is to leave the authority at the end of next month but a council spokeswoman said it could not reveal where he was moving on to.

He joined the city council when NSRP was formed in May 2007 and last year reportedly earned £150,000.

Among the projects he is charged with overseeing are the new city centre bus station, a £230m central business district scheme in the south of the city and the 750,000 sq ft East West Centre shopping centre revamp.

This latest news comes just four weeks after it was revealed that Stoke’s neighbouring local authority, Newcastle Borough Council, was losing its chief executive Mark Barrow to take over regeneration and planning matters in Birmingham.

Mr Macartney said: “I have thoroughly enjoyed working here and I am really excited about the tremendous progress in the University Quarter, Central Business District and the East West shopping precinct.

“The future of Stoke-on-Trent is bright and I look forward to next year when work starts on the new bus station in the city centre.”