Business park's £3.5m boost

Developers have pledged to plough more than £3.5 million into a business park near Lichfield as they continue their investment, which has now spanned 10 years.

Evans Property Group has revealed its latest cash injection will pay for infrastructure and the retention of 170 acres for the next phase of development at Fradley Park.

The Leeds-based developer is also due to lodge plans with Lichfield District Council for a local neighbourhood centre, which will include an 8,000 sq ft supermarket, a pub, five smaller shops, a gym and a creche.

The plans were initially outlined last year.

In February, work started on widening Wood End Lane at the site, the main access road from the A38, and Gorse Lane in a project costing more than £1 million.

The work will also include adding a footpath, cycle path and new roundabout, and is being carried out by Staffordshire County Council contractors.

Alan Syers, Evans director, said that a further £2.3 million will be pumped into adding a new service road across the 300-acre site.

In addition, sewage works and new drainage will take the final spending total well over the £3.5 million mark.

And to reflect the site's original use as a Second World War RAF bomber airfield, the latest road will be named Halifax Way.

"We have spent around £10 million on works and roads for the first phase, over the last 10 years, but all the land they served is now developed," said Mr Syers.

"We regularly ask people working on Fradley Park what kind of services they would like to see, and their responses are reflected in our latest proposals for a neighbourhood centre.

"Originally, people preferred to use the shops and other facilities in the nearby villages and along the A38, but the site has grown, so has the demand for more local services."

In the last 10 years more than 20 national and international companies have taken up space at Fradley Park, employing nearly 4,000 people.

Just last month it was announced that more than 1,000 jobs are set to be created on site at a £63 million Tesco distribution centre.

It is set to be open by the end of September.