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LOGISTICS SECTOR VIEW
By Ged Henderson
ON THE MOVE AGAIN
The logistics sector is firmly back on Lancashire’s development map with major schemes on the drawing board that could deliver thousands of jobs and new businesses to the county.
The high-profile projects would also help to secure the M65 as a logistics corridor that can compete with the sector’s traditional North West heartlands in neighbouring Greater Manchester.
Sector watchers believe attention is turning to Lancashire once again because of rising prices around the M6 and M62 junctions. Availability and scarcity of new sites are playing their part and traditional logistics powerhouses like Trafford Park also have their own challenges, including traffic congestion.
At the western end of the M65 corridor, the county council and its development partner Maple Grove Developments - part of The Eric Wright Group – have submitted detailed proposals for the prime Lancashire Central site at Cuerden.
A planning application for a logistics and distribution led development, close to the M65, M6 and M61, was submitted at the beginning of September. Steve Burns, head of strategic development at the county council, describes Lancashire Central as “regionally significant”.
This development aims to deliver around 1.7 million sq ft of floor space. The aim is to create up to 5,600 full time job opportunities. It is also
estimated that the development will boost the local economy by up to £390m a year.
Further east, Eshton, the developer behind the highly successful Burnley Bridge business park, now an established logistics hub, is looking to redevelop a 33-acre site between junctions nine and 10 of the M65 that has been allocated for employment use.
And the billionaire Issa Brothers’ development arm Monte Blackburn bought a nine-acre site at Burnley Bridge last October with the aim of bringing forward a speculative scheme.
Michael Cavannagh, director at commercial property expert Trevor Dawson, says: “It is great to see ongoing developer confidence in the area for speculative development.”
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