Key Shropshire building sites to be marketed at huge French property show

A delegation of business leaders will travel to Cannes in France, where they will attempt to persuade real estate companies to build in Shropshire.

Clive Barracks in Tern Hill will also be marketed as the perfect site to develop, along with Oswestry Innovation Park, land in Whitchurch and 200-acres of development-ready land in Telford.

They are recognised as key investment sites planned for development to create homes and jobs across the region and will be highlighted by the Midlands UK delegation at MIPIM from March 13 to 16.

Marches Local Enterprise Partnership is part of the Midlands UK delegation at the four-day MIPIM, which will attract 24,000 people from more than 100 countries.

Selling the region as one of the best places in the UK to invest, the Marches LEP has worked with partners at local authorities to develop a proposition for investors.

LEP Chairman Graham Wynn OBE will join Midlands Engine Chairman Sir John Peace and other LEP and local authority leaders in Cannes.

Mr Wynn said: "Our region is home to global players and established supply chains, demonstrated by the biggest single foreign investment in the UK in a decade in Magna Cosma in Telford.

"We have fantastic investment opportunities in our region, one of the most attractive locations in the UK to live and work.

"Global players including BAE Systems, Caterpillar, and Heineken have already chosen to base their operations here, where we offer a first-class business landscape and an outstanding quality of life.

"MIPIM gives us the chance to showcase what Shropshire, Telford and Herefordshire has to offer investors looking to locate in one of the fastest growing areas of the Midlands."

Shropshire has chosen to highlight the Flaxmill Maltings, the world first iron-framed building, which will be available to the market by 2021, providing four floors and 25,000 sq ft of luxury office space.

It is also showcasing the former Ironbridge Power Station, which is in the process of being demolished, and Clive Barracks at Tern Hill, which will be closed by 2022.

A promotional film showcasing the development opportunities and the outstanding natural environment has been developed for MIPIM as well as promotional brochures detailing investment sites.

Councillor Lee Carter, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for economic development, said: “We’re delighted that Telford is officially one of the fastest growing towns in the Midlands, where we have seen £1 billion of investment in the last decade.

“That’s why we’re pleased to be at MIPIM highlighting ready to go development sites across 200 acres, the size of 166 football pitches, which form the Telford Investment Cluster.”

Brownfield sites such as Clive Barracks and the former Ironbridge Power Station are among those which Shropshire Council believes will create major development opportunities for housing and employment in the future.

But the council has warned, due to the sensitive nature of the sites, careful planning will need to take place before development begins.

It comes as Shropshire Council is currently reviewing its local plan, moving it forward by 10 years.

Although almost 19,000 homes are already set to be built in the county, the plan says a further 10,000 will be needed by 2036.

The extra 10,347 houses are mostly planned for the towns in Shropshire, with 30 per cent planned for Shrewsbury, 24.5 per cent planned for the bigger towns such as Market Drayton, and Whitchurch, 18 per cent for smaller towns such as Much Wenlock and Bishop’s Castle, and 27.5 per cent for rural areas.

About 300 hectares of employment development would be earmarked under the local plan.