About Project

Details

Multimillion-pound funding was secured for the creation of the A19 Enterprise Zone in Sunderland. Effectively unlocking the site for development and paving the way for hundreds of new jobs and private sector investment. The North East Local Enterprise Partnership’s (LEP) enterprise zone coverage within Sunderland – known as the A19 Ultra Low Carbon Vehicles Corridor – embraces an area of 80 acres, located immediately to the west of the A19 and north of the A1231. The project has been awarded funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Competitiveness Programme and Sunderland City Council, along with a loan from the North East Local Enterprise Partnership’s Growing Places Fund. The project is managed by the Department for Communities and Local Government.

The Project

A report by Sunderland City Council (SCC) identified a lack readily available land on which to accommodate large scale future industrial developments.

However, an area of land immediately adjacent to the Nissan Car Factory site in Washington was identified by SCC’s Strategic Planning Team as an area of significant importance and suitable for the long term development and growth of the region.

Following extensive consultation, a development scheme was identified and drawn up to develop the council owned land which had formally been primarily used as agricultural land, into a business park with serviced plots ready to sell to private developers. It was also recognised that improvements to the local transport network would also be necessary.

Our Expertise

GPS supplied a Design Engineer to support the development of this project and utilising the use of a combination of AutoCAD and MX Road through which to design and draw up various route options and to subsequently refine to preliminary design. This was achieved whilst taking into account the compatibility with design standards, costs and the associated impacts of each option.

The GPS Design Engineer provided a full review of all existing reports as well as developing options for the site layout. Alongside these duties he also assisted in the management of the required planning submissions.

Following on from achieving successful planning applications, he then undertook a lead role in the detailed design and management of technical questions from site.

The Outcome

Phase 1A had an accelerated programme to enable Vantec to construct a new warehouse and commence deliveries to Nissan. This was achieved within 7 month period of receiving planning permission and called for the requirement of additional working hours and co-ordination issues. Both Phase 1A highway works and the new Vantec facility were successfully delivered and all construction complete.

Phases 1B & 2 have both been successfully granted planning permission. Following on from GPS’s Engineer’s assistance on the initial tender documentation and taking a lead role in the design and detailed design drawings, the tender was awarded to ESH and construction on this Phase has now commenced.