Tri Tax Big Box
Developments
Tritax Big Box Developments (TBBD) is a company that specialises in large scale logistics development.
In July 2024 TBBD launched a project named ‘Intermodal Logistics Park North (ILP North)’, basically a SRFI and associated warehousing.
The scale of the proposal is shocking and is far larger than previous proposals. The TBBD proposal is to use all of the land bordered by the M6, the Chat Moss rail line and Winwick Lane. See the aerial image below. Previous proposals have not included the land within the Wigan borough.
TTB have already acquired 230 acres in St Helens borough. The land in the Wigan borough is privately owned.
The area within the Wigan boundary (~200 acres) is in the Green Belt and is high graded agricultural land. However, the recently released draft Wigan Local Plan proposes the release of this land from the Green Belt for employment purposes. This is despite Wigan Council’s previous objections to developments at Parkside.
Wigan Council’s previous objections largely centred around highways and in particular the impact on Lowton junctions. In their draft local plan Wigan are proposing that TBBD should contribute to the funding of a bypass south of Lane Head. Unfortunately the bypass route proposed by Wigan is a very poor sub-optimal solution and, of course, TBBD will be working very hard to demonstrate that their proposed development will have no adverse impact on traffic levels in Lowton.
You can read a lot more about the TBBD proposals by following the link below.
https://www.tritaxbigbox.co.uk/our-spaces/intermodal-logistics-park-north/
Informal Non-Statutory Consultation - January to March 2025
ILP North is classed as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project and as such is subject to the Development Consent Order (DCO) planning process. Under the DCO planning process approval is dealt with by the government’s planning inspectorate and not a local authority. The final decision will be taken by the Secretary of State for Transport.
The first step in the DCO process was for TBBD to conduct a non-statutory consultation. Members of the public were invited to take part in the consultation as well as statutory bodies, e.g. MPs and local councils. The consultation invite was sent to more than 32,000 addresses. It is disappointing to read that only 202 members of the public responded to the consultation. Unsurprisingly the public response was rejection and concerns about traffic impact in the local area.
Unfortunately there was little detail to review in this consultation as detailed reports on subjects such as traffic modelling and air quality impacts have not yet been produced.
TBBD have produced a summary about the feedback from the non-statutory consultation. You can read the report by following the link below.
Next Steps Statutory Consultation Begins ...
The next step in the DCO process is for TBBD to conduct a statutory consultation process which is now taking place. The process requires TBBD to produce a Preliminary Environmental Information Report (PEIR). The PEIR includes, air quality impact, visual impact although traffic modelling will follow at a later date. A lot of effort will be required by local groups and residents to review and comment on the PEIR.
Following the statutory consultation TBBD expect to make a DCO submission to the Planning Inspectorate in Q2 2026.
You can feedback on the consultation here;
https://ilpnorth.consultationonline.co.uk/feedback/
