New warehouse plans set to create thousands of jobs

Thousands of new jobs could be created through a number of large plans for warehouses in Somercotes and Riddings.
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Amber Valley Council is in the process of planning where it would like houses and employment space over the next two decades, in line with Government targets.

As part of this, it has outlined some sites which could be earmarked for employment uses, largely through the building of industrial warehouse units.

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Nine sites have been put forward by the authority ahead of a period of public consultation, totalling 129 acres of employment land.

An artist's impression of planned new warehouses.An artist's impression of planned new warehouses.
An artist's impression of planned new warehouses.

Sites include: Charity Road, Riddings, 2.17 acres; Birchwood Way, Somercotes, 30 acres; Cotes Park Lane, Somercotes, 5.16 acres; Hockley Way, Somercotes, 2.82 acres; and Wimsey Way, Somercotes, 4.65 acres.

If the sites are earmarked as appropriate development plots in the authority’s Local Plan – a blueprint for future house building and business land – it would represent a significant factor in favour of each scheme.

The Birchwood Way site, subject of a planning application from Clowes Developments since September, could become home to seven warehouses totalling about 22,000 sq metres of floorspace.

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The site lies south of existing widespread industrial units, including FCC Environment, JC Balls & Sons Recycling, Forterra and the former Urban Splash House Factory.

Papers submitted as part of the application do not detail how many jobs could be created, but say the benefit of these new roles is one of the major reasons why it ought to be approved, in the wake of Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic.

Previous iterations of business development proposals have been approved on the site as recently as 2010 and 2014 but have either not been actioned due to a “significant downturn in the economic climate” or been revised.

Borough council officers say the proposed sites provide more than enough employment land up until 2039 and exceed requirements by more than 18 acres.

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They say this is about three years of additional employment land and ‘would help to provide a choice of sites in terms of size, quality and location and a continuum of supply beyond 2039’.

The sites are due to be debated by council before heading out to public consultation. The authority hopes to formally ‘adopt’ a new Local Plan by the end of 2023.

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