A ‘nationally important’ employment site could soon be partially built in Bury. The Northern Gateway scheme will occupy land close to the M66, M62 and M60 intersection – creating up to 10,000 new jobs.
The land, which straddles Bury and Rochdale boroughs, has been earmarked for 6.5m sq ft of industrial space, suitable for a wide range of businesses in the advanced manufacturing and industrial and logistics sectors.
The Northern Gateway scheme is the largest proposed employment site in Greater Manchester. The application also includes proposals for retail and leisure space, a hotel and green open spaces – all connected by a network of travel routes.
The application describes the area for development as ‘bound to the north by Brightley Brook, Pilsworth Fisheries, Pilsworth Road and Heywood Distribution Park, to the west by Whittle Brook, to the east by Birch Industrial Park and fields and to the south by the M62 corridor, including the Moto services’.
The planning application, which has been lodged with Bury Council this week, represents approximately half of the total proposed floorspace at Northern Gateway, supporting thousands of jobs in skilled trades such as research and development, AI and robotics, as well as logistics.
Overall, the Northern Gateway is expected to deliver around 20,000 jobs.
The developer behind the plans is the Northern Gateway Development Vehicle (NGDV), a 50/50 partnership between land and property giants Russell LDP
and Harworth Group plc.
Harworth currently operate a similar employment park at Logisitics North, close to the M61 and is currently developing land at Wingates, Westhoughton
for industrial and warehousing purposes. Helen Hartley, planning associate director at Russell LDP, said: “This is a major milestone in delivering a nationally important employment destination in the North West.
“Northern Gateway is a transformative opportunity, many years in the making, that will create thousands of jobs and bring lasting benefits to the local area and wider region.”
The site is within the Atom Valley Mayoral Development Zone, allocated in the Places for Everyone (PfE) joint development plan and is strategically located at the motorway intersection.
Lynda Shillaw, chief executive at Harworth Group PLC, added: “Northern Gateway will transform the North West and its economy. “Focussed on advanced manufacturing, industrial and logistics, and emerging sectors, it will provide a catalyst for growth, elevating the potential of the North West for both existing businesses to expand and new national and international investment in the region.”
Bury and Rochdale councils recently approved the adoption of a joint Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) for Northern Gateway – which provides a framework for the future planning applications on the site.
Planners in Bury will decide on the plans in the coming weeks.
