Cheshire West and Chester’s planning committee met on Thursday, where it backed a scheme by Encirc Glass Ltd to expand its existing operations with the new development on Ash Road.
Measuring 60,0967 sq m, the new warehouse will be built on grass and scrubland formerly occupied by the Ince A Power Station and cooling tower.
The firm opened its current site in Elton in 2005 and employs more than 900 staff and a further 130 full time contractors. The wider Encirc site was originally set up to make glass containers, but this has since expanded to include filling, packaging, storage and distribution.
The new facility will be 300m long and 107m wide in order to accommodate 16 crane automated stacking aisles and an additional 200,000 pallet spaces, and will be joined to the existing site by monorail.
An HGV marshalling yard with 117 trailer spaces, as well as parking for 140 cars, are also part of the designs.
The plans were originally due to be discussed at last month’s planning meeting but were withdrawn and resubmitted.
Speaking on behalf of the applicant at yesterday’s meeting, Justin Gartland of Lichfields planning and development consultancy, said: “The proposed development will represent a substantial investment by Encirc in the local economy, estimated at £150m, and will create further employment opportunities.
“It already employs over 1,000 people at its Elton facility, the majority of whom reside in Cheshire West and Chester.”
He said the scheme would also contribute to the company’s net zero goals.
Adding: “It is on track to achieve a Breeam ‘excellent’ accreditation which would rank it in the country’s top 10 per cent of new buildings for sustainability, and will act as a catalyst for the de-carbonation of Encirc customer distribution.”
The plans were approved unanimously.
