The developer behind Staffordshire’s first industrial and warehouse park funded through an £82.2m Government growth deal has confirmed the project is on course for an October opening.
Work on the flagship Liberty Park scheme at Lichfield started in March when Staffordshire County Council carried out initial infrastructure work. Since then the £32m Liberty Property Trust development has attracted interest from potential occupiers in a position to bring jobs and economic growth to the region, said trust managing director, Andrew Blevins.
“It is exciting to see progress being made at the Liberty Park site,” he added. “The provision of new car park facilities, an improved access road and the removal of a railway bridge have been the first steps toward delivering what is an important 435,000 sq ft industrial and warehouse development for the region.”
The project — between Burton Old Road, the A38 and the West Coast Main Line — is being delivered by Birmingham-based Stoford and marketed by letting agents CBRE and NRS.
Mark Winnington is the West Midlands authority’s economy leader. “As a county council we have an excellent track record of working with both public and private sector partners to deliver new jobs and opportunities for Staffordshire residents and the fact this scheme has got off the ground so quickly is a great example of how well this partnership can work,” he said.
“Liberty Park is the first development backed by this Government investment and we expect the scheme to create over 1,000 jobs, which will be a significant boost for the area and the county.
“To already have close to full employment in Staffordshire speaks volumes to the strength of the local economy,” he added, “but developments like Liberty Park demonstrate how the county council is working with businesses to deliver a leading regional industrial and warehouse development which will play an important part in Staffordshire’s continued success.”
The £82m Government funding deal is being used to kick-start a range of projects drawn up by Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership.
David Frost, the partnership chairman, commented: “Our priority is delivering not just more jobs, but better jobs for Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire, and it is fantastic to see our first growth deal project taking shape so quickly.”
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