Plans in for first phase of County Durham business park

Plans for the first phase of a County Durham business park – part of a wider 55-acre industrial development which was first approved in 2007 – have been submitted.The proposal for Jade Business Park – formerly known as Hawthorn Business Park – comprises five single storey buildings divided into seven units totalling 165,000 sq ft.The development site is the former Hawthorn Colliery, located off the A19, south of the village of Murton and 12 miles east of Durham.Outline planning permission was granted for an industrial development at the site comprising business, storage and distribution and general industrial use 12 years ago.Remediation work at the former coke works began the following year, and in and in 2011 the access road, then known as the East Durham Link Road, was completed.This was intended to facilitate the development of the proposed Hawthorn Business Park – the name a nod to the site’s heritage – but work stopped shortly after.Rebranded as Jade Business Park, Highbridge Properties appointed HTA Real Estate and CBRE as commercial property agents in 2017.The developer is now seeking permission from Durham County Council to finally progress the scheme.