Green light for employment development on former power station

Plans for 1.64 million sq ft of employment space on the site of a former power station in West Yorkshire have been approved.Mountpark Logistics submitted a hybrid application to Wakefield Council last year for the proposed development on part of the Ferrybridge C Power Station.The 123-acre plot comprises the cleared site of a coal stock yard for Ferrybridge C Power Station and the route of access to the site.Full planning permission has been secured for site infrastructure works including alterations to existing rail infrastructure, construction of an estate access road, highways improvements.Outline approval has also been granted for 1.64 million sq ft of employment development.The majority of the space would be earmarked for general industrial (B2 use class), with storage and distribution (B8 use class) restricted to a maximum of 25 per cent.It has been estimated that the development could support the creation of between 2,000 and 2,500 jobs.The application was approved, subject to conditions, at a meeting of Wakefield Council’s planning and highways committee on 14 March. The decision was in line with the recommendation of an officer’s report prepared for the meeting, as previously reported by Insider.Brett Huxley, development director for Mountpark (UK & Ireland), said: “Achieving resolution to grant is the next step towards delivering a new future to this iconic Ferrybridge site.”Mountpark Ferrybridge represents one of the largest job creation projects in West Yorkshire in recent years, attracting inward investment and delivering up to 1.64 million sq ft of industrial and logistics facilities for occupiers.”Construction of Ferrybridge C in Knottingley started in 1962 and it began supplying energy to the National Grid in 1966. It comprised four coal-fired boiler units, each with a generating capacity of up to 500 megawatts (MW).Operator SSE, which took ownership in 2004, ceased generating electricity at the plant in March 2016 and began a programme of decommissioning.