Middlewich industrial tipped for approval

Plans by joint venture developer Magnitude Land for 867,000 sq ft of warehousing in Middlewich look set for the green light.

The project is billed as phase three of Ma6nitude, with the development vehicle being made up of Tritax Symmetry and Northern Powerhouse Land.

Outline plans were submitted in March and go before Cheshire East Council’s strategic planning board next week with a recommendation to approve.

The JV is seeking permission to add 867,000 sq ft of logistics accommodation on land south of Cledford Lane and west of the proposed Middlewich Eastern Bypass.

If approved, the latest phase would take the total consented space at Ma6nitude to 1.5m sq ft.

Although the breakdown of the scheme in terms of unit size will not be decided on until reserved matters stage, illustrative plans in documents show three buildings on the northern part of the site, above Sanderson Brook, and five buildings, including one significantly larger than the others, in the southern part.

Neighbouring uses are largely commercial, with other warehousing within Cheshire East’s Midpoint employment area to the north and west, and agricultural land to the east and south, although there are two residential properties bordering the 75-acre site.

The joint venture is being advised by a project team that includes Avison Young as planning and EIA consultants, AEW Architects, Hannan Associates, civils and infrastructure specialist SGI, and Eddisons as highways consultants.

Savills, B8RE and Legat Owen are joint agents for the scheme.

The expected cost of the Middlewich Eastern Bypass has climbed since the project was approved in summer 2020, with Cheshire East admitting earlier this year that it now estimates the project will cost £73m, rather than around £60m.

Place understands that discussions are ongoing as to what developer contributions for the project should amount to. According to documents prepared for the planning board, Magnitude Land’s contribution attahed to this consent is propsoed by highways officers at £53 per sq m, which would equate to around £4.2m.

Other projects advancing in what is Cheshire’s prime warehousing market include a facility for sweet maker Swizzels Matlow, the first 158,000 sq ft of which completes this year, and a speculative 190,000 sq ft off Pochin Way.