Green light set for major IAMP expansion

Plans for the next phase of the International Advanced Manufacturing Park (IAMP), which include more than 1.8m sq ft of industrial space and could support thousands of jobs, look set to take a significant step forward at a meeting next week.South Tyneside planning committee will review a hybrid application for the northern employment area at the site on Tuesday 29 August.The application is cross-boundary with Sunderland City Council, which already backed plans at the start of August for the part of the development which falls in its administrative area.The detailed part of the proposal provides the infrastructure to support the development, and includes the dualling of the A1290 between the A19/A1290 Downhill Lane Junction and the southern access from International Drive.Also proposed is a new access road with a bridge across the River Don, as well as a pumping station and electricity sub-stations.The outline plans comprise four plots which will be home to development units.Each plot will have a minimum of one unit, while plot one will host a maximum of two, with plot three housing up to three.Plot four will have capacity for five facilities.The application supports the IAMP Area Action Plan which aims to turn the site into a “nationally important and internationally respected location for advanced manufacturing and European scale supply chain industries”.IAMP One, which is a designated enterprise zone set over 125-acres, has already been approved and implemented and, in 2021, Envision IAMP’s plans to build a £450m battery manufacturing plant at the park were backed.Construction is currently underway for the scheme.A report, which will go before committee, said that the next phase of development will generate between 140 and 165 direct jobs each year through the ten-year construction period, in turn creating 345 indirect jobs in the supply chain.Once operational, more than 3,000 positions could be created alongside 3,485 indirect and induced jobs in the supply chain.The report will go before committee with the recommendation for approval.