Plans for multi-million Telford development submitted
A multi-million pound development that could see a huge new factory built in Telford will go before planners.
The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has put in a planning application to Telford & Wrekin Council to build either one 640,000 sq ft warehouse unit, or two units of around 300,000 sq ft each, at the Telford 54 site.
It would provide a huge economic boost for the county and potentially bring in hundreds of jobs — and comes as part of a collaboration of the landowner HCA and the local authority.
The site would be around 600,000 square ft, two thirds the size of Jaguar Land Rover's engine plant, which would make it one of the biggest individual plants in the town.
The development, which will go before the planning committee this autumn, would be leased out to businesses, in a move to attract major investment to the area.
Nick Bird, area manager for the HCA, Midlands, said: "We have an opportunity to bring to the market, this year, a build-ready site for large footprint development, complementing the run of land sales and development that is underway on the smaller plots at T54 business park."
T54 is a 78-acre site in Naird Lane, opposite the entrance to the Stafford Park Industrial Estate between Junction 4 of the M54 and Queensway.
The site was already home to some significant local employers, including Torus Measurement Systems and crime prevention specialist SmartWater.
Since the development land was launched by the HCA, other businesses have begun to build their own factories on the site, with Axyz Automation becoming the first newcomer to T54 earlier this year.
Bridgnorth-based manufacturer Filtermist is also close to completing its own new factory on the site, with an official opening pencilled in for the autumn.
The site is allocated as a Committed Employment Site within the Wrekin Local Plan and considered suitable for industrial, warehouse, and research and development uses.
National commercial property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) is acting on behalf of the HCA, with joint agents Bulleys.
Matthew Tilt, associate director in the industrial and logistics team at LSH in Birmingham, said the development, known as Titan 640, would be a "major development" for the West Midlands, bringing potentially hundreds of jobs and huge investment.
"The Homes and Communities Agency and Telford & Wrekin Council have joined forces to produce plans for either a single unit or two units that have the potential to attract major occupiers to what is a buoyant area.
"It is well documented that there is a national shortage of high quality industrial accommodation with excellent access to major motorways.
"Titan 640 delivers everything a major occupier requires from a logistics point of view in order to operate a successful business."
