Plans to develop site for business hailed (From Oxford Mail)

Plans to develop site for business hailed

7:00am Friday 21st December 2012 in Banbury

PLANS for more businesses which could boost jobs in Banbury have been welcomed.

A developer wants to build up to three new industrial units by the DHL depot at Banbury Point, Wildmere Industrial Estate, near junction 11 of the M40.

The scheme would secure 150 to 250 jobs for local businesses seeking new premises or create new jobs, said planning consultant David Green.

A planning application has been submitted to Cherwell District Council by AC Lloyd Holdings Ltd, which has bought the grassland from AXA Reim.

It says the plan — which is being marketed to developers – would create a “modern successful and vibrant location for business”.

Banbury Civic Society chairman Rob Kinchin-Smith hailed plans to develop the gateway site for business.

He said: “The Banbury Civic Society would strongly support any proposal that makes best use of this key site.”

It is the latest development proposed for land along the motorway, which has long been earmarked for employment use by the council. In March, it approved plans for a retail park at the industrial estate at motorsport firm Prodrive, which will move nearby.

The scheme will create 750 jobs when it opens in 2014. But traders warned it would hit the town centre.

Two months later, the council approved outline plans for six warehouses to create 1,000 jobs alongside the M40 off Overthorpe Road.

That plan was for 115,000 sqm of floor space.

The latest proposal – for Brookhill Way – would be for 10,500 sqm.

It would be used for business, industrial or storage.