Plans secured for major employment scheme at Wakefield East site

Keyland Developments Ltd has secured planning permission from Wakefield Council for a new employment scheme on its 47 acre Wakefield East site.

Keyland, which is the property trading arm of Kelda Group and sister-company to Yorkshire Water, is marketing the strategic site for sale with planning permission in place through appointed agents Bilfinger GVA and Knight Frank.

Consent has been granted for the creation of City Fields Waterside Park Business Hub, which incorporates up to 500,000 sq ft of employment space and forms the primary element of the 375 acre City Fields development.

Keyland’s employment scheme has the potential to create around 1000 new jobs and act as a catalyst for employment creation and business development through the delivery of half a million square foot of B1, B2 and B8 business and industrial accommodation.

The new £33m Wakefield Eastern Relief Road (WERR), which is set to complete in early 2017, forms part of Keyland’s site, which was formerly part of the redundant Yorkshire Water Calder Vale treatment works.

Wakefield East Consortium has promoted a masterplan framework for development sites along the WERR and City Fields Waterside Park Business Hub has been identified as a potential employment area.

The broader City Fields community will include approximately 2,500 houses, a primary school, health facilities, district and neighbourhood centres along with Keyland’s extensive site.

Ryan Unsworth, development manager at Keyland Developments Ltd, said: “The planning consent has unlocked this incredibly important site which, with immediate access to the WERR, has the potential to deliver major employment opportunities to support Wakefield East Consortium’s vision for the City Fields regeneration project.

“Work is progressing well on the road and with planning secured on the site, we can enter into discussions with interested parties seeking to take the development forward through to delivery.”

Cllr Denise Jeffery, Wakefield Council’s cabinet member for economic skills and growth, said: “The City Fields development is an exciting scheme which is supporting the regeneration of our district. Once completed, it will create hundreds of new homes, new businesses premises, retail and leisure facilities, which all form part of the master plan for the area.

“City Fields will also support our overall vision for the district – to be recognised as a great place to work, live and do business.”

Rob Oliver, director at Bilfinger GVA, added: “The regeneration of the City Fields area of West Yorkshire is creating a whole new community supported by the WERR and this site, as the primary employment element, offers an unrivalled opportunity for a developer to create a sustainable business park.”

Iain McPhail, Partner at Knight Frank, commented: “The consent facilitates the delivery of 500,000 sq ft of new business and industrial space which is fantastic news for the region which is still suffering from shortages of accommodation of this nature.

“The fact that this space forms part of a broader initiative only strengthens its appeal and we anticipate significant levels of interest in this key site.”

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