Warehouses plan reveals ‘new beginnings’ for ironworks site, with application imminent
PROPOSALS TO FIRE UP FORMER STANTON PLANT WITH 2.5 MILLION SQ FT OF BUSINESS SPACE, RAIL HUB AND FISHING PONDS
FRESH details of a major scheme to bring the former Stanton Ironworks site back to life have been revealed, with a planning application now imminent.
Huge plans to redevelop a 200acre chunk of the site were unveiled in early December and a planning application for that scheme, from Verdant Regeneration Ltd, is now due towards the end of November.
The application had been due in August but this was pushed back.
At this stage, a figure has not been given for how many jobs the site – to be known as New Stanton Park – would create, but it is thought that it would stretch to several hundred.
Verdant, which is a partnership between two local firms – Ward Recycling and Trust Utilities – says the site would have around 2.5 million square feet of business space.
Importantly, the scheme would include a 17-acre rail hub to provide direct access for companies transporting their goods to and from the site and across the UK – taking more vehicles off the road.
The rail hub would extend 935 metres into the site from the east, closest to the M1 and Midland Mainline, stretching to the Unbrako Pre-cast Concrete premises.
The development itself would continue west to Ilkeston Road with the woodland and ponds around Nut Brook to be retained.
Verdant still has two masterplans for the site in the works. The one difference between the two options is to either have a large warehouse and three medium sized warehouses totalling more than one million square feet in the centre of the site, or to have one colossal warehouse stretching to more than one million square feet.
Access to the site by road appears to be through the main former entrance off Lows Lane, close to the Saint-Gobain premises, which is currently blocked up with huge concrete pipes.
Verdant refers to the proposed scheme as “one of the region’s largest and most strategic development projects” and that the former ironworks is “one of the best strategically located sites in the UK”.
It calls the scheme a “new beginning for the old ironworks, which covered 450 acres: “Employment has been at the heart of the site for generations. New Stanton Park will once again bring this back to life.
“With a long industrious heritage, Stanton Ironworks was once the heart of the local community and the major employer within the region.
“New Stanton Park will once again breathe life back into this strategically important site and deliver major occupiers and employment into the locality.
“While the heritage will always be remembered, the next chapter will focus on creating a high quality sustainable environment, in time creating its own legacy, becoming the new home of businesses for generations to come.
“New Stanton Park has been identified by Erewash Borough Council as a key strategic employment and regeneration site within the Borough.
This goal will be achieved through the delivery of high quality sustainable buildings, set within a landscaped environment incorporating large amounts of amenity and green space to positively blend the built and natural environments to create an environment occupiers will be proud to call their home.
“The new development plans have sustainability at their heart, reintroducing the direct Midland Mainline rail connection and developing a range of warehouse and industrial units that will total circa 2.5 million square feet of highly efficient space.”
Warehouse units on the site would range from 15,000 square feet, up to one million square feet – if the second option for the master plan is taken forward.
The site would include fishing ponds and walking and cycling routes in the north west of the site and along the northern border.
Verdant details that the site “pulls in a large potential labour catchment” and is able to “deliver employees for occupiers from both a skilled and unskilled background”.
It details that the average gross weekly pay per residence in Erewash is £555.80, lower than the East Midlands (£561) and Great Britain (£587.10) averages.
The firm shows that a higher proportion of the borough is deemed “economically active” at 83.2 per cent, compared to 80 per cent in the East Midlands and 79.1 per cent for Great Britain.
An online virtual public exhibition to showcase the plans is due to launch on October 1 and can be viewed at: www.newstantonpark. com
When Verdant revealed its purchase of the 200-acre plot, Erewash Borough Council hailed the news as a “major breakthrough” for the whole of the derelict site.
The borough hopes to see 2,500 jobs, 2,000 homes, a primary school, an array of shops, health services and a wildlife park created on the overall site.
Last October, it made a pitch to the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership for £6 million to build two roundabouts to create access to the Stanton Ironworks site.
It aimed, through this pitch, to unlock 57 acres of land to create 2,500 jobs.
In 2015, Saint Gobain, after 10 years of planning, had submitted a scheme for 1,950 homes, a 150-bed care home, primary school, GP surgery, sports pitches and 50 acres of employment land including shops, cafés, bars and restaurants on the site – creating 2,000 jobs. However, these were refused due to a lack of affordable homes, mix of employment, failure to restore the landscape, inadequate noise protection, failure to address traffic issues and lack of green and wildlife infrastructure.
The Stanton Ironworks site has been empty for more than a decade after being a landmark industrial hub for more than 160 years, employing thousands of people. During the war, the Stanton Gate Foundry (known to later generations as the Erewash Foundry) produced 873,500 bomb casings. Images provided by Verdant also show the site’s production of huge 44-foot tube components for the Mersey Tunnel
At its height, 7,000 people were employed at the Stanton works. The last iron pipes were produced on May 24, 2007, when 185 workers left the site for the final time.
New Stanton Park will once again breathe life back into this strategically important site. Verdant