Regeneration of Derbyshire ironworks could create 4,000 new jobs

Plans from Verdant Regeneration – a partnership between Ward Recycling and Trust Utilities – aim to redevelop 200 acres of the historic Stanton Ironworks site.

The firm has submitted its plans to Erewash Borough Council, which will make a decision in the next few months.

In paperwork submitted with the application, Verdant says the scheme, to be named New Stanton Park, could create 4,000 jobs when it is completed and fully occupied.

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The firm says the scheme would be a “new beginning” for the 450-acre ironworks and would bring the site “back to life”.

It hopes to do this through the development of a range of warehouse and industrial units totalling circa 2.5 million square feet.

The project would also see the reintroduction of the Midland Mainline rail connection through a 17-acre rail hub.

This would provide direct access for companies transporting their goods to and from the site and across the UK – taking more vehicles off the roads.

Papers submitted by the firm say the construction and demolition stages of the development would create 562 jobs each year and that, when complete, this would increase to 4,000 jobs on-site and 400 jobs elsewhere.

The papers detail that the pandemic has effectively pressed fast-forward on the surge towards online shopping within a vastly increased need for distribution centres around the UK.

They say: “New Stanton Park offers a well-connected strategic location for the delivery of employment floor space in the industrial and logistics sector.

“Recent global events have brought forward a trend in e-commerce that would have happened naturally over 10-15 years.

“This sudden shift in shopping habits has left a deficit in the market for available distribution centres, for which New Stanton Park is ideally located to supply buildings, and jobs to Erewash borough residents.”

The firm says: “The local manufacturing industry requires efficient logistics facilities to serve the manufacturing process, and meet the increased demand from e-commerce.

“Recent trends in ‘reshoring’- the return of component suppliers back to the UK particularly from the Far East – has also accentuated the need for efficient logistics buildings to be developed as a matter of urgency.

“For many, the trend towards very large-scale logistics buildings is perhaps best appreciated from the phenomenal growth in e-commerce.

“The sophistication of the supply chaHolmewood bomb squad incident: Man in his 60s remains released on bailin, and the efficiency in delivery of goods to customers is only achievable by the location of logistics buildings close to the strategic highway network and close to the customer.

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“New Stanton Park is located a short trip from the M1 motorway and has existing rail access that can accommodate 650m trains without splitting.”

“The innovative and high-quality design will attract major regional and national employers to the site.”

Warehouse units on the site would range from 15,000 square feet, up to one million square feet.

The site would include fishing ponds and walking and cycling routes in the north west of the site and along the northern border.

The Stanton Ironworks site has been empty for more than a decade after being a landmark industrial hub in the region for more than 160 years, employing thousands of people.