Major planning applications submitted for MoD Donnington site
Telford & Wrekin Council has submitted two major planning applications for the Ministry of Defence Donnington site.
If the two applications gain planning permission, it gives Telford the opportunity to become the Defence Gateway for the MoD logistics operation.
If the Telford bid is successful, it would make Telford a main centre for the MoD’s logistics operation in the UK. This would help protect jobs at Donnington and may also attract new jobs to the borough.
The council is seeking consent for two sites directly linked to MoD Donnington and the application is for the maximum requirements that the MoD would have in order to give them greater flexibility.
The applications include three major warehouses, associated car parking and offices.
It includes a Fulfilment Centre which at its maximum would be 675,000 sq ft and up to 35 metres high in part. Whether all of this would be utilised would depend on whether the MoD decided that the warehouse should be fully automated, which would require a smaller footprint but maximum height.
On the same site, the planning application includes a further 200,000 sq ft warehouse as well as a 30,000 sq ft, three storey office building.
The second planning application relates to a plot of land which is adjacent to the Telford International Railfreight Park. It includes a 280,000 sq ft warehouse and distribution facility on land to the east of Hortonwood 37 and along the western boundary of the existing MoD Donnington site.
The planning applications are expected to go before Telford & Wrekin Council’s Planning Committee in March.
The MoD is likely to take a decision on where its logistic operation is based later this year. A fundamental part of the decision making process will be the ability of the Council to prove through the planning applications that Donnington can accommodate the full requirements of the MoD going forward.
Councillor Bill McClements, cabinet member for Finance and Enterprise, said: “The submission of these planning applications is the latest step on what we know is a very long road.
“We started this process with initial meetings with the MoD two years ago and I am delighted that we are now at the point where these applications have been submitted.
“If they are approved, it will mean that Telford is in the perfect place to provide whatever the MoD requires and then we just have to hope that we are successful in our bid.
“I am confident that we can provide an excellent value solution for the MoD’s future national logistics requirements. This would in turn safeguard existing jobs, create opportunities for new ones and raise Telford’s profile and prestige.”
