The St Helens Borough Council planning committee resolved to grant detailed consent for enabling and infrastructure works, with building designs to be dealt with under a future reserved matters application.

A further 1.6m sq ft of logistics and manufacturing space can now be developed alongside more than 800,000 sq ft already consented for the scheme’s first phase.

John Downes, executive chair of developer Langtree, one half of the project joint venture with St Helens Borough Council said: “We’re on site with the clearance works for the project’s first phase and this consent will give added momentum to our work on local supply chain engagement, labour recruitment and schools engagement.  It’s particularly pleasing to see our extensive investment in public open space and landscaped trails given detailed consent.

“Phase two will give the project a different complexion, with the addition of manufacturing space.  This will boost the variety, type and earnings potential of jobs on site and enable occupiers to tap into another facet of the area’s skills-base.  St Helens, and Newton le Willows in particular, is a manufacturing heartland and the perfect place to bring advanced manufacturing and engineering jobs.”

Parkside sits within Liverpool City Region Freeport, which offers occupiers a wide range of tax benefits, of particular attraction to manufacturing companies with capital-intensive fit-out requirements.

The new Parkside Link Road takes vehicles efficiently onto the national motorway network and to the port of Liverpool via Junction 22 of the M6 and via the M62.

The land is currently being cleared for phase one with a groundworks contractor set to be confirmed shortly.

Spawforths is the planning consultant for the scheme, with Curtins advising on highways, Chroma as project managers, Fletcher Rae the architects and TPM Landscape the landscape architects.  Cundall are the structural and civil engineers.