2,200 jobs boost for South Ribble as £122m a year ‘masterplan’ unveiled

Outline plans for a flagship scheme to turn 65 acres of farmland in Samlesbury into three employment sites, between the former BAE aerodrome and the Budweiser Brewery, have now been submitted.

And developers say the business sites are part of the Cuerdale Garden Village vision which is also currently in the planning stage and could involve the building of up to 1,300 new homes.

The masterplan, which could be worth £122m a year to the area and generate £5.5m in annual business rates, will tie in with major development of the Samlesbury Enterprise Zone on 50 acres of land at the former Samlesbury Aerodrome, adjacent to the BAE Systems complex.

It will also be a neighbour of the new National Cyber Force headquarters at Samlesbury which was announced by the Government in 2021 and is predicted to employ 3,000 staff by 2030.

All this will form part of what is being called Lancashire's "Arc of Prosperity" bringing an employment boom to the central section of the county. Samlesbury is already well on its way to becoming a national centre of excellence for advanced engineering and manufacturing, with BAE Systems alone employing 3,000 staff.

The outline plans for the Samlesbury sites involve the creation of up to 170,000 sqm of general industrial, storage and distribution use, up to 10,000 sqm of hotel space, 5,000 sqm of retail and 7,500 sqm of office accommodation. It will be split over three plots off the A677 Preston New Road.

Plot One is a 29-acre site to the west of Samlesbury Hall with access near to the Buhara Restaurant. The plans include 11 industrial units for storage or distribution with one retail unit and either a standalone office building or a restaurant.

Plot Two is also a 29-acre site on the southern side of the A677 bordering the Blackburn Wastewater Treatment Plant and across from the Samlesbury Preston Hotel. That is earmarked to accommodate one large industrial unit with storage and distribution, one retail unit or restaurant and one commercial building that could include food and drink use - or a hotel up to six storeys tall.

Plot Three is an eight acre site down Cuerdale Lane and opposite the Budweiser Brewery. That would include 23 small units for general industrial use.

A fourth area of land between plots one and two on the south side of the A677 has been earmarked as a possible future expansion site.

The developers envisage that the new development will offer BAE Systems the opportunity to create a "strong local supply chain."

On the employment creation front the entire scheme is predicted to provide 1,389 industrial and logistics jobs, 511 office posts, 237 retail jobs and 122 vacancies in the hotel sector, a total of 2,268.

A planning statement submitted to the council says: “The proposed sites subject to this outline planning application are located in a strategic growth area being promoted by national, regional, and local government, which has the future potential to provide transformational opportunities for the area and the wider economy.

“No other site in Central Lancashire possesses the locational attributes of the opportunity presented at Cuerdale and Salmesbury.”