LandSec and Gazeley plan £300m Milton Keynes industrial park

Land Securities and Gazeley have submitted a planning application for a £300m industrial park on the outskirts of Milton Keynes. The proposed development comprises 3.4m sq ft of large distribution units and manufacturing facilities on the SED Showground site at Fen Farm, five miles to the East of Milton Keynes.

The scheme will be known as Nova MK and provide 2.5m sq ft of distribution warehousing with ancillary offices, plus 850,000 sq ft of general manufacturing space. The development will be located on a 241-acre site on the A421, near Junction 13 of the M1.

Construction work on the scheme will be phased, starting at the road frontage. There will be a minimum plot size of 5 acres and a minimum floorplate of 100,000 sq ft, designated by the council so that the scheme does not compete with small, local industrial parks. Wilson Connolly, the residential developer, also has an option over part of the site, which it is expected to sell before work starts.

LandSec is looking to achieve outline planning consent by Spring 2003, with construction scheduled to begin later in the year. Nova MK has been masterplanned by David Lock Associates. Jones Lang LaSalle and Burbah Realty are advising the developers.

JLL European Director, Andy Gulliford, commented: “The East of Milton Keynes has been earmarked by the council for the city’s expansion. There will be a lot of residential development in the area as well as Nova MK.”

“Bedford has absorbed the distribution demand from companies like Asda and Argos, because there isn’t the land in Milton Keynes”, he continued. “Nova MK will target the South-facing market as well as the North-facing market of Rugby and Northampton.”