South Lakeland backs GSK investment plans

South Lakeland District Council is backing a bid by pharmaceutical giant Glaxosmithkline to bring investment to the company's site at Ulverston, south Cumbria.

GSK has signalled they wish to invest more than £500m in a biopharmaceutical plant in the UK, and the company's existing site in Ulverston is one of four potential sites competing for the investment.

The other three sites are located at Barnard Castle in County Durham, and Montrose and Irvine in Scotland

At a recent cabinet meeting, South Lakeland District Council pledged to streamline the planning process by progressing a local development order.

The council added that it is a different way of granting planning permission for a new manufacturing plant on the existing site and means that planning regulations will be relaxed.

The council will also waive planning fees that could have been in the region of between £45,000 to £92,000.

Cllr Graham Vincent, portfolio holder for enterprise and economy at the council, said: "This is a fantastic opportunity to be grasped with both hands. The investment potential is incredible as it could bring around £10m into the South Lakeland economy every year. The council will be fighting hard to win this and will do everything in its power to help and support Glaxosmithkline with their plans."

The council claimed it will be the first local development order to be created in Cumbria and underlines the council's commitment to ensuring that GSK Ulverston is well placed to attract the potential investment. The local development order would be issued as a "one off" as the council aims to support the opportunity to attract significant investment to Ulverston and South Lakeland.

South Lakeland District Council officers are working closely with GSK Ulverston to make sure the best proposal is presented in terms of skills, community support, education, housing, culture and environment.

GSK Ulverston opened in 1948 and is a manufacture of sterile and oral active pharmaceutical ingredients used to treat an estimated 50m patients worldwide each year.