Kingspark Developments and Morston Assets have emerged as the buyers of 65ha (160-acres) of non-operational colliery land surrounding the former Coventry Colliery site in Keresley, West Midlands. The joint venture – known as Morston Kingspark Ltd – is now looking to extend this to 101ha (250 acres) with a view to creating one of largest business parks in the West Midlands.
The current landholding excludes the former pithead and coal products sites* which have varying degrees of contamination and have been put on the market. The sites are virtually surrounded by MKL land.
David Keir, director at Kingspark, told EGi that the joint venture is now looking to buy these. If successful, MKL will control 101ha (250 acres) with the possibility of extending even further into the green belt, making the business park larger even than Suon’s combined 89ha (220 acres) Griff Clara/Bermuda Park near Nuneaton.
MKL’s existing holding is complicated, including as it does a mix of light industrial and green belt, as well as falling under the remit of local authorities Coventry and Nuneaton.
The Coventry UDP identifies the colliery site as the largest of the three designated employment areas suitable for B1 and B8 uses.
Planner Joel Hancock said the council’s latest development brief – published last week – does not fix the parameters to the green belt around the site. “The authority is of the view that it may be possible to extend the boundaries in order to ensure the redevelopment of the colliery.” He added: “We do not know what the clean up costs of the colliery will be so we have not determined the extent of the green belt.”
The other authority, Nuneaton & Bedworth, is also broadly supportive of the scheme.
* D&P Holt is acting for Kingspark. Gerald Eve is advising the Coal Authority on the sale of the former pithead and Wilkes Head & Eve is representing the vendor of the coal products site.
EGi News 26/09/97
