Planning approval for LCP’s £5m Chase Trade Park

Lichfield District Council gave the go ahead for the 11-unit, 51,000 sq ft park, to be built on a derelict three-acre site to the west of Cannock Road and north of Robins Road. It will be located adjacent to Burntwood Business Park zone 3, which the Kingswinford-based property and investment company owns and manages.

Agreements have already been reached for a national joinery company to occupy 8,685 sq ft across three units, and a national retailer of baked goods is to take a further 1,400 sq ft.

Nick Bryson, director (industrial) at LCP, said the remaining seven units that are available range from 1,400 sq ft to 16,400 sq ft. Two of these – units C1 and C2, both 6,400 sq ft – can also incorporate additional first-floor office space, if needed.

The properties are suitable for B2 (General Industrial), B8 (Warehousing) or E(a) (Display or sale of retail goods) use.

“This is a significant investment for LCP after we identified a high demand for units of this size in the area,” said Nick. “We’re pleased to have now been given planning permission for this much-needed provision on an already thriving and popular business park.

“Chase Trade Park is an opportunity for ambitious businesses to locate themselves in a strategic location, close to the M6 Toll and a few minutes from the motorway network, and also bring with them welcome job opportunities for people in the area.

“We’re looking forward to announcing tenants in the coming weeks and also working closely with our partners who have been appointed to deliver the trade park, so that it is ready for occupation next year.”

LCP has appointed Wainwrights as project manager, architect, and quantity surveyor, while NU Construction limited is appointed to build the units.

Work is expected to begin this summer, with an expected completion date of spring 2024.

The units, which can be tailored to meet reasonable occupier requirements, will have steel portal frame construction and eaves height of between six and eight metres. They will include LED lighting, full height electric roller shutter doors and insulated profiled steel-cladded roofs with roof lights. They will also have power floated concrete floors with minimum 30KN/M 2 loading.

The scheme will include ample unloading/loading, with 81 parking spaces, 10 electric charging points, 10 cycle hoops and an additional 11 accessible parking spaces.

The park will sit on a currently derelict three-acre site, enabling LCP to continue its restoration and reformation of the business park.

It will include solar powered estate lighting and a significant landscaping provision focused on encouraging new wildlife habitats. In addition to the development site itself, LCP also intends to undertake a large planting scheme on the adjacent site entrance to the business park and create new habitats around an existing balancing pond.

The existing business park is monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week by CCTV, in addition to frequent mobile security patrols. LCP is responsible for the maintenance of park roads and common areas and it has an on-going policy of reinvesting in the estate with good quality lighting and planting schemes in place. The estate benefits from a planned on-going maintenance programme.