HUNDREDS of jobs are set to be created on a third new business park at Chelston, Wellington, after it was given the planning go-ahead, writes John Thorne.

Somerset West and Taunton Council has approved the Wellington Business Park proposals on 5.8 acres of land owned by agricultural business KS Coles Ltd.

Buildings previously used for storage and distribution in connection with the agricultural enterprise will now be converted to provide 103,000 square feet of light industrial floorspace. Many of the still-to-be-converted buildings were already under offer before the approval went through.

Planning officer Richard Boyt said: “Although this site is not allocated and it is not within the settlement boundary, Chelston is an area of employment growth where bigger buildings are far more viable due to the size of plot they require.

“Such big development plots are not likely to become available inside existing towns such as Wellington. The re-use of employment buildings in this location is strongly supported in these circumstances. The growth and security of jobs and the likely increase in economic activity weighs heavily in favour of the proposals and is supported by Wellington Town Council.

Planners said there is a knock-on effect when allowing a farm distribution centre to be lost, because this may result in farm products requiring new processing infrastructure to reach their market.

“This would manifest itself in a pressure to build additional farm buildings and factories in the local rural landscape. It is considered that while this is a possibility, the Coles site is in an almost optimum location to be used for light industrial and distribution purposes, to such an extent that it outweighs any knock-on effect that might have on the countryside,” Mr Boyt said.

Mr Boyt added proposals to include heavy industry would have been noisy, odorous, or disruptive and therefore unacceptable, but the applicant had since dropped that element of the development.

The plans had been welcomed by town councillors, particularly as the development was brownfield site and would not use open countryside around the town, although they expressed concern that the Chelston roundabout serving the two existing business parks was already at near-capacity.

Concern was also expressed by business owners on the neighbouring Westpark 26 business park at the use of a narrow road through the estate for access to the new units.

But Mr Boyt said the Westpark estate roads had been built to accommodate heavy vehicles and any inconsiderate or obstructive parking was not a reason to refuse planning consent.

SWT has still to determine plans for a fourth business park off the Chelston roundabout which will create about 230 further jobs in a £35 million development.