19.02.15
Doncaster approves plans for £400m rail-connected ‘iPort’
Real estate investor Verdion has won planning approval to start work on its £400m Doncaster iPort project, which will be one of the largest commercial developments in the country.
The approval, granted by Doncaster Council, covers the first three million sq ft of development, including a 35-acre rail freight terminal.
Verdion, with support from its funding partner the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), is developing the scheme on a 700-acre site in Rossington, which is linked with Junction 3 of the M18 via the Finningley and Rossington Regeneration Route Scheme (FARRRS).
When complete, the Strategic Rail Freight Terminal will connect into the existing UK rail network and the access will be designed to accommodate trains of up to 775m in length.
The access will connect to two handling sidings adjacent to the iPort apron, each a minimum length of 400m; one head shunt siding to the south of the handling sidings, again a minimum 400m long; one locomotive release siding; and one cripple siding at a minimum 45m long.
Next to the sidings will be the iPort apron, which will be a minimum of 420m long and 15m wide. The apron will accommodate HGV traffic with a maximum axle weight of 50 tonnes and will allow reach stackers to operate with a front axle load of up to 115 tonnes.
The apron is designed to accommodate a four high container stack with a maximum load of 122 tonnes.
John Clements, Verdion’s European development director, said: “We are, again, one step closer towards delivering one of the largest logistics schemes in the UK.
“Together with our funding partners HOOPP and with continued support from Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council and other stakeholders, we are pushing forward with this strategic site, located in the UK’s logistics hub. £21m of infrastructure works have already started on site and we are in talks with a number of operators.”
In addition to the freight terminal, iPort will provide more than six million sq ft of warehousing space and could create over 5,000 jobs once complete.
Ros Jones, mayor of Doncaster, added: “This is another major step forward for iPort which will deliver thousands of new jobs and is one of our many drivers of economic growth.”
She said work on the new link road from the motorway network continues to progress well as “we build the right foundations for the local and regional economy to expand with swathes of new private sector investment coming into Doncaster”.
Gent Visick, Cushman & Wakefield and CBRE are letting agents for iPort.
(Image: c. Doncaster Council)
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