165,000 sq ft unit at Gateway 14 in Stowmarket approved

Located at the entrance to what will be the largest business park in East Anglia, Plot 2000 will be a large warehouse and accompanying office, as well as car parking and lorry service area.

Gateway 14’s first unit was handed over to The Range six months ago, creating 1,650 jobs.

Speaking at Mid Suffolk Council’s Planning Committee on Wednesday, Tim Sturgess, director at Avison Young, acting as planning adviser to the applicant, said: “Whilst the application is speculative, the grant of planning permission will reduce delivery time and widens the pool to encourage occupiers to locate here.

"This is particularly important in the current economic climate.

“The proposed scheme is a modern, high-quality designed industrial development which Gateway 14 Ltd are proud to bring forward.

“The proposal will deliver between 168 and 284 jobs subject to the use with opportunities for logistics, manufacturing, and associated office jobs. This will make a positive contribution to the local economy and is a significant public benefit.”

The committee unanimously granted permission for two potential plans for the site.

The first option would see the warehouse and office used for storage and distribution, with 114 car parking and 36 truck parking spaces on site.

Under the second proposal, the building would be used both for storage/distribution and general industry, with 327 car parking spaces available.

 In both cases, there would be extensive cycle parking and electric vehicle charging points.

Sarah Mansel, Green councillor for Elmswell and Woolpit (Image: Wendy Turner)

Chairing the Planning Committee, Sarah Mansel said: “This the gateway building to our Gateway 14 site. Having a shiny new building there will make it more attractive than a vacant site that looks like a building site. It is going to be the thing people see when they first turn up. It’s got to look good and be sustainable and I hope it’s gone far enough.”

Fellow councillor Lavinia Hadingham agreed: “I’m very impressed with this. I think it looks fantastic.”

The committee approved the reserved matters of landscaping, appearance, layout, and scale with the condition that a waste management strategy was provided for a mixed-use site, and HGV electric vehicle charging points were considered.

Councillors also expressed a desire for the accessibility of the site to be looked at further.

Separately, £18.8million of funding has been agreed to create a skills and innovation centre at the business park, with training rooms, collaboration spaces and offices for high growth start-ups.