PLANS to massively expand a business park in Worcester have moved one step closer after they were submitted by developers.

Stoford is planning to expand the Worcester Six Business Park and has now submitted its plans to Worcestershire County Council following a public consultation.

The developer has already invested £75 million to the site and wants to put in place its original plans to extend the business park to the south, adjacent to Newtown Road, which will provide up to a further 680,000 sq ft of floorspace on just over 60 acres of land.

The land has always been earmarked for the business park and was included in the South Worcestershire Development Plan back in 2016.

Also included in the plan is a massive green space expansion, which will see Stoford putting aside 40 per cent, approximately eight hectares for natural habitats and landscaping.

Other plans include retention of woodland, wet and rough grassland areas, and hedgerows.

Approximately 500 metres of poor-quality hedgerow will be removed and replaced with 3,000 metres of new native hedgerows to boost wildlife species.

It will also plant more than 250 trees, three hectares of new woodland and shrub planting and 5,000 square metres of wildflower seeding and native bulb planting.

Gerard Ludlow, director at Stoford, said: “Worcester Six has quickly established itself as a game-changer development and having attracted a number of businesses to Worcester Six over the past three years, we are now in a strong position to develop the southern extension.”

Stoford held a public consultation on the proposed extension in March, which included community engagement, online webinars and meetings.

A website and social media campaign also reached more than 14,000 Facebook and LinkedIn users, while mailshots were sent to 800 local homes and there were more than 330 website views during the two-week consultation period.

The Worcester Six site, near junction six of the M5, is already home to a number of major companies including Kohler Mira, Spire Healthcare, Cornelius, Kimal, and Materials Solutions, which has one of Europe’s largest 3D printing facilities. Work has also started on the county’s largest data centre for IONOS.

When the IONOS site is completed, it will take up a total of 51,479 sq ft comprising of the 38,501 sq ft IONOS site plus 12,978 sq ft for offices.

For more information, go to www.worcester6.co.uk/overview/