Crown Wharf plans go on show in Stone

Plans for retirement flats at Crown Wharf in Stone will be revealed at a public exhibition on Thursday 17th July.

Developer McCarthy & Stone is looking to build 33 apartments for older residents on the land off Crown Street, next to Canal Cruising Company.

A public exhibition of the plans will be held at Christ Church Centre from 3pm to 7pm on 17th July.

Darren Humphreys, regional managing director at McCarthy and Stone, said: “We have spent time carefully researching the architecture and character of the local area, and our proposals feature a traditional design. We’ve worked hard to make sure our proposal for the site feels like it belongs to Stone. We want to hear from the local community and our future homeowners before we submit a planning application.

If you can’t make it on Thursday, you can call the project team for more information, following the event, by calling freephone 0800 298 7040. Alternatively, a copy of the exhibition display boards will be available to view and download HERE on Thursday 17th July.

Comments can be made on that website too, which will be taken into account ahead of the plans being finalised and submitted to Stafford Borough Council.

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McCarthy & Stone built a retirement complex just down the road in Crown Street a few years ago, called Joules Court.

Crown Wharf is owned by the Canal and River Trust and currently rented to Stone Town Council for use as a car park. It will be sold to McCarthy & Stone if they get planning permission for the retirement complex.

Stone Town Council raised £10,000 in 2009 through a one-off increase in council tax in an attempt to buy Crown Wharf for use as a new community centre for the town. That plan floundered.

Crown Wharf was also included in an extended Stone town centre boundary in the Stafford Borough Local Plan that was adopted by the borough council recently, putting it in line as a possible site for mixed-use development of leisure and retail. The sale of the land to McCarthy & Stone seems to have put a halt to that possibility, and thrown open the issue of car parking spaces in the town.