Member Article

Stoford to begin public consultation on Worcester Six Business Park extension

Stoford, the developer behind Worcester Six, is to launch a public consultation into a proposed extension at the business park, which would drive investment to the region.

Worcester Six Business Park, which is located a few minutes’ drive from junction six of the M5, is home to a number of companies, including Kohler Mira, Spire Healthcare, Cornelius, Kimal, and Materials Solutions, which has one of Europe’s largest 3D printing facilities. Work has also started on the county’s largest data centre for IONOS.

Stoford has already delivered £75 million of investment to the site and it is now looking to prepare an outline planning application to extend the business park to the south, adjacent to Newtown Road, which will provide an additional 60.14 acres of space.

The developer is hosting an online pre-application public consultation between 8 and 22 March, with a live webinar session on Tuesday, 16 March, where members of the public can hear the developer’s plans for the site and ask questions.

Gerard Ludlow, Director at Stoford, said: “This is a pocket of land that has always been earmarked for the business park and is included in the South Worcestershire Development Plan, which was adopted in 2016 by councils in south Worcestershire.

“Now, thanks to our success in attracting world-class employers over the past three years, we are in the position to put forward our plans to develop the Southern Extension.

“It would herald another significant investment in the site and form an important part of our plans for this ‘game changer’ development, which is considered to be an exemplar for its economic and environmental performance.

“While we are currently unable to hold in-person public events, we still want to provide the public with the opportunity to find out more, ask us questions and comment on the plans.”

As well as delivering a first-class business park, Stoford is also committed to ensuring Worcester Six is a valuable green space for the community. It has already completed a wide range of work to safeguard the environment and preserve the rich wildlife at the site.

It has worked with Worcestershire’s Green Infrastructure (GI) Partnership to create a long-term GI Concept Plan, which commits Stoford to making sure 40% - approximately eight hectares – of the site is earmarked for natural habitats and landscaping.

Plans include retention of woodland, wet and rough grassland areas, and species-rich hedgerows. Approximately 500 metres of poor-quality hedgerow will be removed and replaced with 3,000 metres of new native hedgerows to boost wildlife species. It will also plant more than 250 trees, three hectares of new woodland and shrub planting and 5,000m2 of wildflower seeding and native bulb planting.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Meredith Guest .