Next step taken on FIREM’s Widnes waterfront bid

Plans have been submitted for Catalyst Business Park, the developer’s 1.8m sq ft industrial project, spanning 96 acres between Fiddler’s Ferry and the Mersey Gateway bridge.

Now validated on Halton Council’s planning portal, the FI Real Estate Management application follows a consultation that was held late last year.

MCAU is leading on design, Planred on planning, with the project team also featuring Geo2, UES, Prime Transport, Adept, PGLA, Fairhurst, MED, and Eighty Studio. The applicant as listed is Lea Valley Ltd.

The plans as submitted seek a hybrid consent, will full permission requested for works to make the site development-ready – new and altered access points, remediation, remodelling and regrading of land, related engineering and infrastructure works, drainage, landscaping, enclosure and changes of use, partly relating to meanwhile uses for open storage in some areas.

Outline permission is sought for the development itself. Around 1.7m sq ft will be industrial & logistics-led with ancillary office space, with around 807,000 sq ft earmarked for a data centre. A battery energy storage system is included, along with some retail, F&B provision and sports and leisure space.

Close to housing, zone 1 will be low-level SME space. Credit: planning documents

Phasing

Development is mapped out across five development zones. As set out in MCAU’s design & access statement, the project is expected to take 10 years to deliver, stretched across four phases. The first is the remediation and enabling phase, with development expected to begin in earnest from year four with phase two.

This phase will see around 237,000 sq ft developed across zones one and two, with open storage remaining in place across zones three to five.

Phase three, expected to be delivered around year seven, will see further work in DZ1, with built product also being delivered in zones three and four. By phase four, completing in year 10, work across zones four to five will be delivered, bringing the project to completion.

Zoning

Development zone 1: Close to housing and the waterfront, this area will see lower building heights, with FIREM expecting to bring forward slightly more than 180,000 sq ft, in units of around 1,600 sq ft to 6,000 sq ft. Access will come from the southern end of Earle Road. The site is currently used for open storage.

Development zone 2: Around 166,000 sq ft is expected within DZ2, in units of around 3,200 sq ft to 41,400 sq ft. The new gateway entrance to Catalyst Business Park will be formed from a new roundabout access off Moss Bank Road, leading into a small commercial area serving both business park occupiers and the wider area, including residents of new housing at Three Sails Point. There will be a gym, nursery/creche and small-scale retail and F&B. This zone is also in use for temporary open storage.

Zones two and three see development get larger. Credit: planning documents

Development zone 3: This is where the larger-scale development comes in, with up to 382,000 sq ft expected in units of 6,500 sq ft up to the largest, potentially weighing in at 269,000 sq ft. The increased scale, said MCAU, reflects the zone’s more central location and separation from sensitive edges. DZ3 will be accessed from the Moss Bank Road roundabout.

As a meanwhile use, DZ3 would be used for self-storage, through shipping containers, and vehicle storage, which will also be the case for DZ4 and DZ5.

Development zone 4: New commercial units are planned along with an internal access road which will also unlock DZ5. DZ4 also benefits from an existing pedestrian and cycle connection to Johnsons Lane. Around 776,000 sq ft of employment-ed development can be accommodated here, in units of 5,000 sq ft to 258,000 sq ft. The data centre and BESS could also be built here. This is described as the core employment area, and will see the park’s tallest buildings developed.

Development zone 5: The indicative layout for DZ5 suggests up to 322,000 sq ft of development in a standalone unit, with consent sought for B2, B8 and Sui Generis (data centre and battery storage).

All documents relating to the Catalyst project can be viewed on Halton Council’s planning portal, reference 26/00081/OUTEIA.