Planning secured for Chinese ecommerce firm warehouse at Dove Valley Park
Councillors have approved a planning application for a 400,000 ft2 plus warehouse which has been pre-let to an as yet unnamed major Chinese ecommerce retailer at Clowes Developments’ Dove Valley Park in Derbyshire.
By Liza Helps, Property Editor, Logistics Matters
SOUTH DERBYSHIRE planning committee approved the plans unanimously at a meeting this week for the facility which could create between 575 and 700 full-time jobs on the site.
The plans first revealed by Logistics Matters in December last year, propose a 402,326 ft2 cross dock facility with 18 eaves. Its non-standard footprint corresponds to the irregular shape of the site boundary while also adhering to the tenant’s operational needs. Two offices are proposed on the unit’s east and west elevations, one is the main office spread over 4 floors, though only three of these would include glazed fenestration as the
upper most floor provides plant space. This part of the building would provide the main entrance and include a canteen, kitchen toilets, showers and other rooms for employee wellbeing at ground floor level, the first and second floors would accommodate open plan offices and additional toilets, and the third floor would be a plant deck. The other smaller office building is the transport office.
The facility will have 368,137 ft2 of warehouse space with 81 dock and eight level access doors (There would be 29 docks on the south east elevation and 42 docks on the north west elevation)
served by a 50m yard with 360 degree circulation. The property will be built to target BREEAM Excellent and an EPC A rating.
The property is expected to start construction shortly with completed development transferred to the end user in late 2026, with it going operational in 2027. The end-user has indicted that it intends to hire locally and to build links with the local education establishments and encourage apprenticeship programmes, skills development and upskilling.
