OBJECTIONS have been submitted against plans to build a warehouse on green belt land in Bold as an extension to the Omega development.
Proposals were submitted by Omega St Helens Ltd / TJ Morris (Home Bargain) to St Helens Council’s planning department for a warehouse on green belt land.
Omega is a £1bn property development site in Warrington borough straddling the M62 motorway located on a large part of the former Burtonwood airbase.
Omega North consists of distribution warehouses for Brake Bros, Hermes Group, and Travis Perkins.
Meanwhile, Omega South consists of bases for The Hut Group, Amazon, Domino’s Pizza, and the largest Walmart development outside the USA, with an Asda distribution warehouse, along with plans for retail, leisure, and phased housing developments.
The plans for Bold look to develop on land to the west of Omega South, south of the M62.
Plans state the proposed building would measure approximately 449 metres in length and 221 metres at its widest and say the site would see around 3,000 jobs created at the site.
Green Party Bold councillor David O’Keefe has expressed opposition to the proposals, calling employment projections “pie in the sky job figures”.
Cllr David O’Keefe has expressed strong opposition to the plans
He called plans a “green belt land grab being justified by inflated job numbers which are not likely to be materialised”, and made reference to the M6 Major scheme at Florida Farm in Haydock which saw much less jobs created than initially touted by developers.
“It is of no benefit to the people of Bold or St Helens”, he added.
The proposals have attracted numerous letters of objection from residents, with reasons cited including the loss of green belt and impact on the Bold Forest Park landscape.
Worries have also been expressed over increases in traffic having a detrimental impact and the effect on wildlife.
One said: “The building on such land will have little benefits for locals most likely with few jobs available for local workers”.
In the plans the applicant claims “it is considered that ‘very special circumstances’ exist that serve to justify the proposed development in the green belt”.
A cumulative impact document in the plans says that the development would “have a moderate beneficial effect on the economy in St Helens”.
It states this includes “approximately 1,103 net FTE employment opportunities” during construction. It adds there would be “approximately 3,014 net FTE employment opportunities associated with the outline planning application site”.
The application adds the “vision for Zone 8 is the creation of a successful, leading edge commercial development which is “attractive to potential occupiers with large space requirements”.
It says the main component of the proposed buildings is “to be used for a possible storage and distribution” use and would include two or three storey offices.
They add: “There will also be a gatehouse for each plot. The units could be single or double sided. It is intended that the design and layout of the buildings will create a shared character identity for the development.
“The buildings will be designed to create a strong visual focus on the office component and to use materials and colours selected from a palette used previously across the Omega site.
“The HGV entrance for the site will be from an extension of the recently constructed infrastructure road, using a new roundabout. “The vehicular access for cars will be via the same route and branching off the new infrastructure road”.
