New Year start for £1bn Omega project

Sep 13 2007 by Tony McDonough, Liverpool Daily Post

WORK on Warrington’s huge £1bn Omega commercial development near Warrington will begin next year.

The long-planned 500 acre business park, to be built on the site of the former Burtonwood World War II US Army air base, could create up to 25,000 jobs over 25 years.

The project, being undertaken by a joint venture comprising Miller Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and English Partnerships, was first put forward in 2001.

Planning permission was first sought in 2003 but was soon hit by delays. Liverpool, Manchester and Salford city councils objected to the scheme on the grounds that it would be detrimental to their own economic development.

The Highways Agency was also unhappy fearing the nearby M62 would not be able to handle the volume of traffic generated by the project.

The rows dragged on into 2006 with and at one point the three local authorities were prepared to go to the High Court to stop Omega going ahead.

But last year, one by one, the objectors backed down and a fresh planning application was submitted to Warrington Council.

There were fresh fears the project would be delayed further when the Government “called in” the scheme to examine whether a public inquiry was necessary.

However, in November, the then Secretary of State Ruth Kelly ruled the decision should be left with local authority and outline permission was granted. In June this year full planning consent was granted for phases one and two which will see the creation of more than 3m sq ft of commercial space.

Yesterday Miller Group chief executive Keith Miller told the Daily Post he expected work to begin on site early next year.

“We are very upbeat about this project,” he said. “We anticipate good strong demand, especially for the industrial-distribution space.”

Miller Group, one of the UK’s biggest housebuilders, yesterday revealed a 9% increase in pre-tax half year profits to £59.6m.

Mr Miller said sales of new homes had held up despite higher interest rates in recent months but admitted the forthcoming period would be more “challenging” for the business.

“Despite the interest rate rises there is still a good demand for family homes and that is an area of strength for us,” he added.

tonymcdonough@dailypost.co.uk