62 new jobs on the way as Telford casting foundry expansion plan approved
Councillors took less than five minutes to approve plans for a factory expansion which will create 62 new jobs.
Cosma Casting UK will extend its current aluminium casting foundry which operates 24 hours a day and employs around 230 people.
The Telford Business Park premises have had their plans approved for a factory extension with 11,119 square metres of additional internal floorspace – a 46 per cent increase.
A new gatehouse building will also form part of the development and car parking will be increased from 229 to 274 spaces.
Telford & Wrekin Council’s planning committee was required to decide on the plans due to a temporary contractor’s compound planned on land owned by the council.
At their meeting on Wednesday night councillors spent just four-and-a-half minutes to approve the plans.
Planning officer Andrew Gittins said that the extension was part of an allocated employment site within a strategic employment area.
He said that the applicants had engaged with the local community by letter-drop, including Telford & Wrekin Council ward members and the local parish council.
“As a result of this and the sympathetic design proposal, no objections have been raised during the life of the application,” he said.
“The application has been supported by a plethora of reports and plans, including a comprehensive site environmental management plan, which has allowed for all technical consultees to support the application.
“The design of the extension is consistent with the modern aesthetic currently seen on site and will have limited impacts on the surrounding landscape or neighbouring properties.”
He added that the council’s highways department was satisfied with the ‘appropriate level’ of additional car parking proposed and a ‘small contribution’ to the strategic highway network improvements.
Mr Gittins added that additional electric vehicle charging spaces were being provided and the roof design would allow future retrofitting of solar panels.
He proposed that the application should be approved by councillors subject to conditions and financial contributions through a Section 106 agreement.
Councillor Peter Scott voiced his support for the plans, saying: “I can’t hear anything from Andrew (Gittins) that would make me not want to support this. It ticks every box I can think of and I can’t find anything in it that is negative.
“It’s an industrial area and industrial building, yes please.”
Councillor Giles Luter added that the council should be supporting business growth and the plans were a ‘positive thing for Telford’.
“It will create employment which is great news,” he added. “I can’t see any negatives in it, all the planning criteria have been met. It’s quite a simple decision for me to make.”
Councillors voted unanimously for the plans to be approved.
