Plans approved for major logistics hub at former Lancashire colliery

The government has approved plans to redevelop the former Parkside colliery in Newton-le-Willows into an industrial and logistics hub.

St Helens Council previously approved the project in 2019, but it was called in for review by Whitehall.

The council said the plan’s first phase will create 500 construction jobs before an additional 1,300 other roles.

The development’s first phase will create 93,000m² of a new employment park and logistics hub designed for the transportation, sorting, dispatch, and distribution of goods.

John Downes, Chairman of Parkside Regeneration said: “It’s been a long road, but we got there.

“I’m delighted that the Secretary of State saw as clearly as we did Parkside’s potential for transformational change and the contribution it will make to re-balancing the local economy.”

More than 1,700 miners worked at the site at its peak, producing more than 800,000 tons of coal each year. It was the last mine in the Lancashire coalfield to be decommissioned.

St Helens North MP Conor McGinn said: “Thirty years after the colliery closed, it is long overdue that we will finally see the site being brought back in to use.”

Plans were also approved for the Parkside Link Road, which is seen as pivotal in unlocking the site’s full potential for future development.