First occupants for Shrewsbury estate sounded out

The 35-acre Shrewsbury South development will ultimately become a major estate for the town, providing a new area of expansion for light industrial and commercial uses.

Neighboured by a number of retailers on Meole Brace and properties along Oteley Road – as well as Shrewsbury Town's Greenhous Meadow stadium – the huge plot of land was launched to a gathering of around 100 businesspeople at the football club's home.

Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council's head of economic development, was among the speakers at the launch event.

He said: "This site is one of the biggest we have in the county at 35 acres, and that hopefully will service more than 2,000 jobs once it's complete.

"That's exactly how important it is to the economy of Shropshire, and it's essential to get it up and running as soon as possible."

He added: "Battlefield is nearing saturation point, and this is an opportunity for business to grow out of that site and into new premises, and to help new businesses come in and help the growing economy to flourish even more."

The 35 acres reflects the amount of developable land as, when including the infrastructure on the site, the whole area tops 50 acres.

As such, local commercial property agents are viewing it as a huge opportunity to help businesses to grow in Shropshire.

London company Lands Improvement is making a "significant" investment in the infrastructure of the site to allow companies to move in soon.

Outline planning permission is already in place, and Lands Improvement is now looking for potential occupiers to build on the site.

"We are looking to bring forward the first service roads and land parcels for the second half of next year," said James Stone, land director at Lands Improvement.

"Given the size of the site, there's an opportunity for quite a broad range of businesses. We can see offices and light industrial uses, as well as the local centre care home, maybe a doctors' surgery and local retail – a range of uses that complement what's already there."

He added that there would be no significant residential areas built as part of the scheme, but added that a handful of homes could be incorporated as part of the local centre, if it was felt they complemented the rest of the development.

There will be no major building of new roads to access the site, Mr Stone added, although access looks likely to be via the route beside the main gate of Shrewsbury's stadium, and the road coming past the new Percy Thrower's Garden Centre.

"Primarily it's the existing road network which has been assessed through the planning process," Mr Stone explained. "We are confident, and the highways authority are confident, that the road infrastructure can sustain this development, although there are highways improvements as part of the overall package.

"There's a delivery plan in place, the team are fully charged and we have a consultants team working with the planning officers, so there will be a further application dealing with the detail of the infrastructure."

Toby Shaw, who is marketing the scheme locally through commercial property agents Towler Shaw Roberts, said: "The launch event was the opportunity to showcase the site and to give an overall view of how they are going to develop it over a period of time.

"What's so exciting is that you can actually see it, it's actually happening."

Bosses were given the chance to look over the site at the launch event, with 4x4 vehicles from county car company Shukers heading across the fields which are soon to be transformed into the business development.

The population of Shrewsbury is expected to increase from its current level of 72,000 to approximately 84,000 by 2026, and the need for employment to accommodate the growth in population will mean that sites such as Shrewsbury South become essential in supporting the growth of the town's population.

The commercial land is only one section of an overall 100-acre project, which forms part of the Shrewsbury South Sustainable Urban Extension, and will include 550 homes and a community centre.