£75m Warrington warehouse scheme refused by Secretary of State
Plans for a £75m warehouse creating up to 730 jobs have been refused by the Secretary of State.
Warrington-based haulier Eddie Stobart lodged proposals for the scheme in June 2018, through Chester-based developer Liberty Properties to build a new, state-of-the-art warehouse facility.
It said that, if approved, the 630,000 sq ft building would create around 480 permanent jobs on site, support another 250 off site, and see a £75m investment into the Warrington economy.
The site was on land north of Barleycastle Lane, opposite the haulier’s existing HQ at Stretton Green Distribution Park.
Councillors approved the plans in July last year, despite more than 1,000 objections.
However, Secretary of State for Housing, Robert Jenrick, called in the proposals for further consideration, and it has now emerged they have been turned down.
Warrington South Conservative MP, Andy Carter, said in a statement on his facebook page: “The secretary of state concluded that the benefits of the proposal before him are not sufficient to outweigh the harm to the green belt.
“He therefore concluded that very special circumstances required to justify granting permission for inappropriate development in the green belt do not exist in this case.”
