Logistics North secures £10m infrastructure loans
THE planned logistics base at the former Cutacre opencast colliery near Bolton has received loans worth £10m to cover infrastructure developments such as roads, ground works and drainage.
Developer, Rotherham-based Harworth Estates, secured planning permission earlier this month for Logistics North which will have four million sq ft for distribution and manufacturing.
Some £7m has come from the European Union-backed Evergreen Fund which supports commercial property development, and a further £3m has been committed by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s Growing Places Fund.
Harworth has already signed up Aldi to the scheme at junction 4 of the M61 which plans to move its regional head office from Stakehill Industrial Estate in Middleton to a new 440,000 sq ft building which will be the first phase.
Harworth director Phil Wilson said: “This loan will be instrumental in enabling us to deliver what will be the premier logistics location servicing the North West. Bolton Council adopted the Logistics North site within its Core Strategy Framework and was fully supportive in bringing our development forward through the planning process, as were Salford and Wigan Councils. Having local authorities and funds such as the North West Evergreen Fund championing key regeneration projects in the North West of England is crucial to the continuing growth of the region.”
Permission was granted for opencast mining at the site in 2001 and over a million tonnes of coal was extracted between 2006 and 2011 when it closed. Under an original agreement the opencast site was to be turned into a country park and Harworth’s decision to dedicate 250-acres to a logistics base has attracted significant opposition from residents. It is still committed to a 600-acre country park at the site.
The Evergreen Fund has so far invested in Bruntwood’s Citylabs scheme in Oxford Road, Manchester and the Soapworks in Salford, a 400,000 sq ft office redevelopment of the former Colgate-Palmolive factory being handled by asset manager The Carlyle Group and joint venture partners Nikal and Abstract Securities.
