Plan for industrial work space and 100 homes
NETWORK Space has submitted a planning application for the next phase of development at its strategic 21-acre Mere Grange site in St Helens on Merseyside.
The commercial property business has tabled plans to develop industrial workspace totalling 90,000sq ft alongside a residential application for nearly 100 homes.
The new workspace units range in size from 17,500sq ft and 25,000sq ft and complement the mixed use of the site which is located just off Junction 7 of the M62.
The scheme already features a first phase of office development delivered in 2008 alongside the proposed new housing and a further phase of industrial workspace totalling circa 60,000sq ft is expected to follow.
Deborah McLaughlin, executive director at the Homes and Communities Agency said: “The planning application marks the next step for this development which will help create jobs for local people in St Helens by providing top quality workspace.
“The 98 homes which will be built on the site will also provide a boost by providing much needed new homes for local people.”
Stephen Barnes, managing director for Network Space, said: “Mere Grange is a strategic site within the borough which offers superb connectivity to the motorway network being located less than two minutes from Junction 7 of the M62.
“There has been an acute lack of new quality industrial workspace of this size being developed across the region over the last eight years and we are confident that demand for this space will be high given the design and specification of the units, the site’s connectivity to the town and motorway network together with the high quality matured landscaped setting that we have delivered at Mere Grange.
“Network Space currently owns more than 350,000sq ft of space within the borough and the delivery of this additional space is entirely consistent with our objective of extending our 3 million sq ft modern, well located and well occupied industrial portfolio.”
Cllr Barrie Grunewald, St Helens Council leader, said: “The scheme has the capacity to deliver up to 400 new jobs available to the local community attracting over £13.5m of private sector investment together with 98 new homes. I’ve always made clear that St Helens is a pro growth borough and this application is an important milestone in seeing another key regeneration scheme come forward.”
