Construction of new phases at Grove Business Park, the 32-acre commercial development in Wantage, Oxfordshire will commence this summer, following a decision by Vale of White Horse District Council to grant a full, detailed planning consent for the business park’s regeneration, unlocking around ten-acres of development land.
Grove Business Park originally received outline planning approval, in December 2016, for the demolition, construction and conversion of buildings to provide up to 40,000 sq m of floor space. Various conditions were attached to this planning permission and the reserved matters application addressed these and provided further details regarding such things as layout, scale, appearance and landscaping. The reserved matters application was submitted last year and the detailed planning consent includes the design and layout of around ten-acres of the business park that have yet to be developed.
Richard Lyall from Grove Business Park said: “The detailed planning consent finalises the master plan for the business park and provides a green light to proceed with the regeneration of the site while opening up future development phases.
“We are now able to press ahead with our plans to create a cutting-edge business environment with buildings to suit the occupational needs of small, medium and large businesses that will bring new employment opportunities to Wantage and the surrounding area.”
Work on the construction of new access roads, drainage and electricity supplies, will start this summer, opening up previously undeveloped parts of the business park. This, in turn, will allow new properties to be constructed.
“Once the new infrastructure is in place, we will be able to build new commercial properties very rapidly and provide business occupiers with top-quality offices, R&D and industrial space. We will effectively be able to offer oven-ready plots suitable for a variety of business occupiers,” said Lyall.
“We are already in negotiation with a number of businesses about the opportunities that are now available,” he added.