At the summit of the priority list?

When the leaders of Ashfield and Mansfield district councils, together with more than 40 local property agents, attended the official launch of Summit Park – a new state-of-the-art logistics and business park in Ashfield, it was said to be the beginning of a rise in skilled employment in the area.

However, nearly one year on from the launch, the only thing standing in the 45-acres of land is a solitary sign which advertises the potential to develop.

The site, formerly known as Prologis Park, has planning permission for business, general industrial use and storage and distribution and is close to junction 28 of the M1, via the A38, and is being developed by South Normanton based developer Sladen Estates.

Matt Sladen, Development Surveyor at Sladen Estates, said: “In terms of moving the building on, we’re currently in talks with potential occupiers which will hopefully reach a conclusion this year.

“The difficulty is, we get so far with potential occupiers, but things can often break down in the latter stages of the discussions for various reasons that are out of our control.

“We are confident we can get it up-and-running this year, and we look forward to seeing the start of the building process.”

Chief executive of Sladen Estates, Nick Sladen, said Summit Park was set to put Mansfield and Ashfield on the map for new business growth and is designed to serve all types of business.

The launch was held in July of last year, and George Cowcher, of the Chamber of Commerce for Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire, said that the development at Markham Vale had proved a success in the long run, despite people’s concerns that it didn’t create 5,000 jobs overnight.