It’s 40 miles from sea, but never mind... Doncaster to be Yorkshire’s newest port

Three developers – Shepherd Developments, Helios Europe and Segro – have agreed plans for the £400m Rossington Inland Port, near the old Rossington Colliery site, which is set to bring an estimated 5,000 new jobs to the region.

Construction work on the inland port, which will have a massive rail freight interchange, customs facilities and storage areas, is set to begin next year.

Mayor of Doncaster Peter Davies said: “The inland port is a major opportunity for Doncaster, building on its excellent transport links to the rest of the country.

“It will deliver about 5,000 jobs and the council is working with the developer to ensure training and recruitment is in place to guarantee the scheme benefits the economy of Doncaster.

“This will put Doncaster on track to be one of the premier places for logistics in the UK, thanks to its central location.

“This is another step forward for our plans to transform the town and demonstrates just what a great place Doncaster is to do business.”

Although it is some distance from the coast, the Rossington site will be officially classed as a port as it will have customs facilities and bonded warehouses within the sprawling complex.

It is intended that goods will mostly come from the docks at Felixstowe in Suffolk and will be freighted to the warehousing complex, which will act as a holding place for containers, before their contents are broken down into smaller units and distributed.

The developers plan to build up to 5.75 million square feet of rail-linked distribution warehousing plus a container facility, to provide companies with buildings that have both direct motorway access and direct rail to port container services.

It is understood that discussions have been held with global ports operator Hutchison Whampo, which operates the port at Felixstowe, to run the rail cargo operation.

The chief executive of Helios Europe, Mike Hughes, said the agreement was good news for Doncaster.

He added: “The primary UK ports’ storage capacities are being stretched to almost breaking point through expansion, so there is substantial demand for intermodal inland port hubs of this nature.”

Access to the site will be via the new Finningley and Rossington Regeneration Route Scheme link road, which has just been granted £18m from the Government under the regional growth fund programme and will link both the port and Robin Hood Airport to the M18 motorway.

Outline planning permission has been granted for the scheme by Doncaster Council, and the developers expect to submit a further application within six months, in order to enable the first buildings to be ready next year.

Don Valley MP Caroline Flint previously described the plans as a “jobs bonanza for Doncaster” and said: “Doncaster’s history is built on coal and rail and this could not be a more fitting 21st century answer to the need for jobs.”

Opposition to the Rossington Inland Port scheme, however, has come from bodies including the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England and Rossington Parish Council.

After planning permission was granted, parish council chairman Terry Wilde said the decision was “disgraceful” and added: “I don’t think there will be 5,000 jobs.

“I think it is a Trojan horse which will bring in more imports to the country.”