Brilliant Bamboo-st for town!

Eco project finds home at former pottery

- Sentinel Reporter

A STOKE-on-Trent-based bamboo project has found a home on a disused patch of concrete in a supermarket car park where a major pottery factory once stood.

Brilliant Bamboo, led by Gemma Thomas, has signed a 10-year lease on a one-acre plot on the edge of Sainsbury's car park in Stoke.

The land was formerly occupied by the historic Minton factory, which became part of Royal Doulton in 1968.

The site - mostly concrete and gravel, scattered with pottery shards - was once earmarked for retail development, but has remained unused since Sainsbury's acquired it in the early 2000s.

The aim is to use the 'parklet' to explore sustainability, creativity and the impact on the environment, including whether bamboo can improve air quality in an area which traditionally has high levels of pollution.