Imperial Park Bournemouth and Bournemouth Airport given green light to begin expansion building work at Aviation Business Park after 18 month hold-up
Work to expand a business park near Bournemouth airport which will create up to 2,600 new jobs has been given the go-ahead to start by BCP Council after an 18-month delay.
The application by Imperial Park Bournemouth and the airport for Aviation Business Park was approved in December 2021 by the council’s planning committee but the companies involved had not been able to start the building until issues over an access road, cycleways and footpaths had been settled.
This had been expected to take six months, but a recent meeting of the council heard it had taken 18 months.
A report by a BCP planning officer said the expansion would have “huge benefits” to the local economy and added all the issues had been dealt with, including automatic number plate recognition cameras on the access road which would only allow people working, or visiting the aviation park to gain entry.
There would also be manned barriers and road traffic light controls around the area to avoid what some councillors feared might become a “rat run.”
It is expected to add £100m to the economy by creating two parks consisting of more than 90,000sq m of employment floorspace.
Industrial land with road improvements will cover 25 hectares and will see at least 60% of the development used for storage or distribution, with the rest for business and general use.