PLANS for a 245,000sq ft development totalling eight separate units at MA6NITUDE industrial estate have been submitted to Cheshire East Council.

The proposals have been submitted on behalf of Total Developments NW Ltd, who bought the site off Pochin Way – the other side of the railway from land between the Brooks Lane Industrial Estate and the Cledford Lane Ansa site.

The new buildings would be for use as B1 ‘business’, B2 ‘general industrial’ and B3 ‘storage or distribution’ across two phases, and the development would also include car parking for 338 vehicles as well as service yards for each unit.

Crewe-based Total Developments bought the site for £4.1 million in 2017, saying it would form a ‘strategic’ development.

A design and access statement accompanying the application said: “The proposed development would make efficient and effective use of the site and create a contemporary yet sympathetic design which would capitalise on the opportunities afforded by the site.

“It is considered that the development represents an appropriate use of land in this location and one which would assist in the continued development of economic growth in the wider area.”

The statement adds that the development will focus on ‘striking the right balance between built-development and landscaping’.

With a consultation for Middlewich’s long-awaited eastern bypass now out to the public and the planning process underway, a government grant of £46.7 million has been secured towards a total cost of £58 million.

This leaves a funding shortfall, which a Cheshire East Council planning officer said recently would be made up through section 106 contributions from large-scale planning applications.

A letter detailed in the planning application from Cheshire East Council highways development manager Paul Hurdus to the applicant confirmed that contributions to the bypass would be sought.

Comments can be made to Cheshire East Council on the application until April 12, with a committee due to discuss the plans in May.