Land lease terms for proposed Yorkshire Energy Park given green light by council

Hull City Council has given the go-ahead to land terms for the proposed £200 million Yorkshire Energy Park.

The scheme, which is located within the boundary of Preston South village in the East Riding of Yorkshire, could generate a multi-million pound investment boost for the Yorkshire and Humber economy, create more than 1,000 jobs and one million sq ft of development space.

Although the land for the proposed site is in the East Riding, it is owned by Hull City Council.

The team behind the Yorkshire Energy Park has been developing specific commercial terms which reflect the nature, scale and challenges of the complex scheme, while also providing a robust, long term income stream for the council if planning consent is granted.

Now, following extensive public consultation and detailed work with other agencies, Hull City Council Cabinet Members have approved the commercial terms for the land subject to planning approval.

An outline planning application was submitted to East Riding of Yorkshire Council for the Yorkshire Energy Park in May 2017 and a number of further supporting documents have been submitted over the last 10 months.

Yorkshire-based developer Sewell and Eco Parks Ltd have partnered with London-based Chiltern, a national renewable energy, infrastructure and technology project developer, to deliver the proposed scheme on the former aerodrome site.

The Yorkshire Energy Park could provide a unique business environment in the UK, bringing together low carbon energy generation and storage, education and training, and energy intensive industries such as information technology and food processing, on one site.

The energy strategy for the park has been designed to ensure the provision of best value, resilient energy solutions for occupiers. All occupiers will be able to benefit from on-site electricity generation distributed over private wire, energy storage facilities and multiple grid connections. The electrical infrastructure will meet the exacting requirements for data centres, as well as offering low cost, clean energy for all occupiers.

Leading national real estate advisors GVA and Hull-based Garness Jones are promoting the location to companies which could potentially set up home on the site.

Household names such as E.ON, Almax, Legal & General, SSE Utilities, ZTE and Vodafone have already announced their support for the energy park plans.

Chris Turner, Chairman of Hull Eco Park Ltd, said: “This is a significant step forward in the development of the Yorkshire Energy Park.

“An option agreement has been in place for several years and we have worked hard with the council to arrive at a set of commercial terms which reflect best value return back to the local authority but equally maintain the scheme’s viability.

“The terms are a mixture of freehold and leasehold transfer. Due to the complex nature of the site and uses, we needed to structure something which is bespoke to the scheme.

“It is important to note that this development is still subject to planning approval. We are working closely with the planning authority and statutory agencies to resolve a number of outstanding matters, and we hope to be heard at Committee in summer 2018.”

Easily accessible from the M62, by train, close to the Port of Hull and Humberside International Airport, the site will bring together businesses from across the globe to create and deliver innovation alongside education and research.

As part of the investment, local sports and community facilities will also benefit from relocation on the site to new and improved accommodation. A green buffer zone has been extended, following significant public consultation, to maintain a gap between Hedon and the proposed development, and create a nature zone.

Traffic management and flood mitigation have also been taken into account under the plans.