Retail park plot sold for £920k

One of the final plots of land at a retail park on a former opencast mining site in Cannock has been sold by developers for £920,000.

Planning permission is already in place for the piece of land at the 50-acre Orbital Centre to be used for an industrial and office development in a move expected to create jobs for the district. A 2.2 acre plot has been snapped up by CH Shaw Properties from St Modwen Developments Plc. It means there is now just one plot available at the centre, close to the M6 Toll.

The Orbital Centre has been a massive boost to the district over the years.

It is home to a branch of Sainsbury's supermarket, an extensive retail park, The Orbital pub and also the 80,000 sq ft factory which is home to Briggs Equipment UK.

Ian Romano, spokesman for St Modwen, said: "Orbital has been a very successful redevelopment project of a former opencast mining site in conjunction with Staffordshire County Council.

"The site posed immense technical challenges which the company overcame and this deal marks effectively the end of a long hard won success story."

St Modwen acquired the 50-acre site from Staffordshire County Council in 1989 and has created 330,000 sq ft of retail and industrial development.

The site was a former opencast mining operation and the firm had to undertake a major programme of reclamation.

The neighbouring Kingswood Lakeside business park has since been a further massive boost to the area and boasts the huge Unilever/DHL distribution centre and is a base for food wholesalers 3663.

Councillor Neil Stanley, leader of Cannock Chase Council, said it was excellent news for the district.

He said: "This is quite clearly good news for the district and it is fantastic they have reached the stage where the Orbital Centre is almost full.

"It will be seen as good news for the district, as a boost to the economy and will create jobs."