Super-warehouse could create 1,000 new jobs for Leyland area

The colossal unit, which will be more than half a mile long and almost a third of a mile wide, has been approved at the second time of asking after developers made big changes following talks with residents.

The £35m warehouse, on what was once a landfill site for a former Leyland Motors factory nearby, is expected to bring more than 1,000 jobs to the area and generate more than £40m for the local economy.

Caddick Developments amended their plans after the company's original vision was deferred while discussions went on with residents and council officers to lessen its impact on the area off Centurion Way.

The revised plans show a lowering of the height of the building from 22-metres to 18.5-metres, significant additional landscaping, a 2.5-metre high soil bund to further screen it from houses and changes to the colour scheme to help it blend in with the area.

The company has also promised to make sure TV, radio and digital signals to those living around the site are not impacted by the size of the warehouse.

And a watercourse across the site will now be diverted - an issue which originally led to an objection from the Environment Agency due to flooding concerns.

It is expected that a number of companies will be accommodated in the building, although no names have so far been mentioned.

The location, which is currently scrubland where locals walk their dogs next to the giant Global Renewables plant, is said to be South Ribble's largest available standalone employment site.

Original plans, which were given outline permission in May 2021, included four separate units. They have now been amalgamated into one huge warehouse with more than 100 despatch bays.

The overall footprint of the building, sitting next to the Lancashire Business Park, takes up 544,000 square feet with offices and storage.

It is almost 100,000 square feet bigger than the Waitrose distribution centre at Buckshaw Village and three times the size of the Amazon warehouse in Leyland.

Caddick says the Farington Hall project will deliver "a best in class development which responds to the critical need for new high-quality employment space in the North West."

Planners say the scheme will create 228 jobs during construction, with a further 320 in the supply chain. Once it is operational it could provide 789 direct workforce jobs and a further 347 in the supply chain.

"The proposal will provide new employment opportunities and enhance business and growth opportunities in Farington," says a council report.

"There has been a seismic shift in the industrial and logistics market driven by the global pandemic, Brexit, and significantly changing consumer habits. This has fundamentally reshaped domestic and global demand for space."

It adds that the country has seen a "significant increase in online shopping, meaning current demand for warehousing far outstrips forecast supply over the next five years."

"Organisations are seeking to combine activities under one roof to drive efficiencies particularly when faced with higher energy and fuel costs, which required larger units closer to a good source of labour.”

The report says analysis shows demand in the North West for units of the scale proposed at Farington has doubled in the last 12–24 months.