Thousands of jobs to become available as part of £600m i54 expansion
Thousands of jobs are in the pipeline as part of a a huge planned expansion of the i54 business park worth £600 million.
The sprawling site, which is already home to Jaguar Land Rover, is poised to grow even bigger delivering up to 2,700 more jobs and attracting £600m worth of investment.
The latest 100-acre extension to the i54 would cut into on green belt land surrounding the site to the north of Wolverhampton.
Plans for the development of the first 60 acres of land – owned by Wolverhampton council – between Wobaston Road, Pendeford Hall Lane and the current i54 site are expected to go before South Staffordshire District Council in the spring.
If passed the combined Wolverhampton and Staffordshire councils plan will deliver an estimated 1,500 jobs in high value manufacturing and a million sq ft of space.
The other 40 acres, owned by Severn Trent’s Midlands Land Portfolio, is to be part of a separate application at a later date.
A public drop-in exhibition about the development proposals is being held at Fordhouses Cricket Club in Wobaston Road on Thursday, March 1, from 10am to 7.30pm.
As part of the work a new access road – with bus services – would be built by Staffordshire County Council from the original business park to the extension site with no access from Wobaston Road or Pendeford Hall Lane.
Vital
Wolverhampton council's cabinet member for city economy, councillor John Reynolds, said: “Demand is high for more accommodation from potential investors and the western extension will enable us to deliver that for the benefit of local residents and businesses.”
“i54 is one of the UK’s premier advanced manufacturing business parks. Our joint investment at i54 has secured hundreds of millions of pounds of further investment and has brought thousands of jobs to the area with circa 40 per cent of employers living within a 10-mile radius."
Councillor Philip Atkins, the leader of Staffordshire County Council, added: “i54 South Staffordshire will play a vital part in the Midlands Engine and in the growing productivity of Staffordshire and out neighbours.
“With the i54 built up so quickly it shows there is demand for sites like this in the area. This site will be important locally, regionally and nationally.
“We are looking to deliver high value better paid jobs through this project.”
