£80m freight plan may be derailed

Jul 10 2007 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post

Mersey Multimodal Gateway _320

AN £80m road-rail freight interchange on the banks of the Mersey appeared under threat last night after a private landowner said it was reviewing plans for its involvement.

Westlink has acquired a 100-acre site in Widnes, which forms part of the proposed Ditton Freight Park also known as the Mersey Multimodal Gateway.

The North West Development Agency has identified the scheme as one of 25 of major importance for encouraging inward investment into the region.

Halton Council, who are behind the wider project, said it could create about 7,000 jobs, and it is being developed because of its close links to the Port of Liverpool, regional airports, and the motorway network.

Bosses at Westlink said they were reviewing proposals for an industrial warehouse development – a significant part of the proposed “freight village.”

Campaigners opposed to the project because of the use of greenfield land said the review could put the brakes on the scheme.

But Cllr Rob Polhill, deputy leader and executive member for regeneration and transport at Halton, said he was convinced it would still go ahead.

Company chiefs at Westlink said they hoped to finish the review by the autumn.

As well as Westlink’s 100 acres, the Ditton Freight Park is made up of 40 acres owned by O’Connor Transport and 40 acres of greenbelt owned by the council.

It already has a terminal handling over 60,000 containers per year in 750,000sq ft of warehousing but has outline planning consent for 1.8m sq ft of new building, rising to 3.5m sq ft in future.

The aim is to have a mile-long interchange along the Liverpool to London West Coast rail line between Ditton and Halebank.

It would become one of the largest freight terminals in the country.

Bernard Allen, chairman of pressure group The Friends of Halebank said: “I think this could be good news for us. It’s looking a bit iffy now, isn’t it?”

He said that when a planning inspector had given the council permission to build on the site it had been specified that brownfield sites had to be built on first.

Cllr Polhill said the council was yet to apply for detailed planning permission for the terminal but claimed it would be done soon.

Guy Middleton, executive chairman of Westlink, said: “We are still reviewing the plans. We are not yet clear if they are appropriate for what we want to achieve from the site.”

davidbartlett