£300m SmartParc food manufacturing plant is said to be high-tech and will be available for start-ups, manufacturing facilities and the Food Manufacturing Technology Centre of Excellence. It is said that the new campus will give rise to about 5,000 jobs.
Plans for a 155-acre high-tech food manufacturing campus in Derby have taken a big step forward.
A formal planning application has been submitted for the SmartParc development on the former Celanese chemical plant site near Spondon.
The £300 million, 1.8 million sq ft facility could provide manufacturing facilities, start-up units and a potential location for a Food Manufacturing Technology Centre of Excellence. It could help create 5,000 jobs.
Derby City Council, D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership – which is supporting a £12 million grant, secured through the Government’s Getting Building Fund – and Marketing Derby have been heavily involved in the plans.
SmartParc chief executive Jackie Wild said: “We’re delighted to take another step forward in our plans to put Derby at the heart of the UK’s future in sustainable, efficient food manufacturing.
“We are liaising closely with local residents and stakeholders to ensure their views are incorporated in our plans to regenerate the site and exploring SME business and university partnerships to bring our collaborative next-generation sustainable food ecosystem to life.
“We are proud to be partnering with D2N2 and Derby City Council to re-energise the local region.”
Derby City Council leader Coun Chris Poulter said: “The project fits perfectly with Derby’s future ambitions. Its focus on innovation and lowering carbon outputs ticks key boxes in our economic recovery strategy.
“We are hugely excited to see the SmartParc scheme progressing so quickly and positively.
“The project fits perfectly with Derby’s future ambitions. Its focus on innovation and lowering carbon outputs ticks key boxes in our economic recovery strategy.
“If planning is approved, it would greatly assist our efforts to diversify the city economy.
“And, of course, the project would create thousands of new jobs and rejuvenate a previously blighted but strategically important site.”
John Forkin, managing director of Marketing Derby, said: “Smart Parc is an exciting and innovative concept that will not only create thousands of jobs but also help diversify our economy.
“Marketing Derby has been working with their team for some time and we are delighted to see planning being submitted so quickly. It’s beginning to feel real, which is fantastic news.”
Assuming it gets the go-ahead, the Spondon site could help develop the latest ways to cut food waste food miles, and carbon output and increase UK food security and our competitiveness around the world.
Sajeeda Rose, chief executive of the D2N2 LEP, said: “We want our region to build back better, bigger and faster to fuel a green economic recovery and deliver long-term economic growth.
“This submission is great news for Derby and for the whole of our region and will provide a much-needed boost to confidence and our recovery efforts.
“We are confident that, once the final business case is approved, the D2N2 LEP’s £12 million investment, through the Government’s Getting Building Fund, will support the creation of a world-leading sustainable food-manufacturing facility that will deliver pioneering innovation, boost jobs and transform the local economy.”
Scott Knowles, chief executive of East Midlands Chamber, said the development would provide a welcome boost to Derby’s economy.