Mid Suffolk District Council has granted planning consent for two industrial buildings totalling more than 130,000 sq ft at the Gateway 14 development in Stowmarket.
Sandwich panel manufacturer Assan Panel is investing £45m in a 86,565 sq ft manufacturing facility at the site and building construction materials manufacturer will occupy a 44,000 sq ft distribution centre.
The scheme is being developed by Gateway 14 Ltd – a wholly owned subsidiary of Mid Suffolk District Council in conjunction with development partner Jaynic.
The buildings at Gateway 14 are designed to achieve BREEAM Excellent and EPC A ratings and feature EV charging, LED lighting, solar PV, smart energy systems and rainwater harvesting. Construction of the units is expected to start imminently.
Richard Winch, cabinet member for housing and property at Mid Suffolk District Council, said: “The green economy is an emerging market that we are keen to encourage and forms part of our aspirations for Gateway 14. With planning permission granted for the Assan and Bauder buildings, we are delighted to welcome these leaders in the sustainable construction sector to Mid Suffolk.”
Steve Beel, chief executive of Freeport East, added: “We’re delighted to see these developments progressing so quickly at Gateway 14. It’s testament to the strong public-private partnership we have at Freeport East that all parties are looking to expedite and expand the benefit of these investments. Both these businesses are well aligned to the types of industry we are looking to attract across Freeport East and will strengthen our efforts to bring more investment to the region”
Sir Christopher Haworth, chair of Gateway 14 Ltd, said: “This is a major step-forward in positioning Gateway 14 as a hub for today’s clean industries, particularly alongside plans for a new skills and innovation centre also on site, where cutting edge young and start-up businesses will be given every encouragement to develop.”
Ben Oughton, development director at Jaynic, said: “We are pleased to be making strong headway at Gateway 14 where potential occupiers see the benefits that the park provides with its freeport status as well as underlining its locational advantages sitting next to Junction 50 of the A14. This provides direct trunk road access into the UK motorway system. These planning decisions follow on from the 1.17m sq ft distribution hub building for The Range that was completed at the end of last year and will be in occupation shortly.”
Savills and Avison Young are the agents for the scheme.
