Development of 800,000 sq ft of logistics space at the former Parkside Colliery in Merseyside can now move ahead after the council approved the reserved matters application for the scheme’s first phase.
The development was granted outline consent following a public inquiry in November 2021, with the reserved matters application submitted in May 2023. Today’s approval by St Helens Borough Council covers the scheme’s detailed design for the necessary infrastructure, including plot levels and entrances. It also covers the details of the first three units in phase 1.
Parkside Regeneration – a joint venture between commercial developer Langtree and the council – aims to turn the site in Newton-le-Willows back into a major employment generator.
Phase two will take the regeneration to 2.6m sq ft of logistics and advanced manufacturing space on the former colliery site.
John Downes, chairman of Parkside Regeneration and chief executive of Langtree, said: “It has been a long road to get to this point, but that’s a function of the project’s transformational scale and the detailed nature of what was required to get us here.”
The development will also open the site to public access, with an extensive heritage and trim trail included as part of the landscape treatment.
Kate Groucutt, cabinet member for economy, skills and business at St Helens Borough Council, said: “This approval allows us to step up our work with local companies and residents to ensure that they have an opportunity to benefit from the investment that can now flow as a result of the consent.”
The £80m first phase is expected to create around 1,330 jobs and will benefit from the construction of the £55m Parkside Link Road, connecting the site to Junction 22 of the M6 motorway.
Once completed, phase 1 is expected to generate more than £2.2m in annual rates income for St Helens Borough Council and add more than £80m of output per annum to the borough’s economy.
The GVA is estimated at around £300m when both phases are completed, with around 4,200 operational jobs.
Spawforths is the planning consultant for the scheme, with Curtins advising on highways and 4ward Management acting as project manager. Fletcher Rae is the architect and TPM Landscape the landscape architect for the development.
Image from Fletcher Rae/Parkside Regeneration
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