Work to start on inland port as funding deal lifts final hurdle

WORK will start next month on a £400m project to build a major port facility that promises to create 5,000 jobs in Yorkshire.
Rossington Inland PortRossington Inland Port
Rossington Inland Port

Verdion, the company behind the long-awaited Doncaster Inland Port in South Yorkshire, has secured a funding deal that removes the final obstacle to the scheme going ahead.

Groundwork on the site at Rossington will begin in November and the first units will be available at the start of 2015.

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The 570,000 square metre inland port, known as iPort, will be a logistics hub where goods are stored and despatched and will also be used to relieve pressure on congested coastal ports and speed up the delivery of freight. Freight will be taken from coastal ports by train to a rail terminal at iPort where it can be processed through customs before being transported onwards via road and rail.

The scheme was given planning permission in 2011 but a lack of funding and delays to the Finningley and Rossington Regeneration Route Scheme (FARRRS) – a new link road which will connect the iPort site to the motorway network – have hampered progress.

Work on FARRRS is now due to start later this month and Verdion has secured financial backing from HOOPP, one of the largest pension funds in Canada, allowing the development to get under way.

“There is an absolute commitment to develop this premier project,” the company said in a statement.

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Doncaster executive mayor Ros Jones said: “HOOPP is another major investor to see the growth potential of Doncaster.

“We have a clear strategic vision for the town and by putting the right infrastructure in place we are supporting major private sector investment.

“As one of the top 100 pension funds in the world, HOOPP’s commitment to Verdion’s iPort development is a real feather in our cap.

“Doncaster is firmly on the up and overseas investment in projects like this justifies our optimism for the future. We are looking forward to a project of European significance locating within our borough.”

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Verdion said yesterday it was already in discussions about letting one of the giant warehouses on the site to a “large retail occupier” but refused to comment on speculation that it is talking to internet retail giant Amazon.

The financial deal that will allow iPort to go ahead is part of a wider agreement that will see Verdion and HOOPP develop logistics sites across Europe worth 1bn euros.

Verdion chief executive Michael Hughes said: “HOOPP is the absolute ideal long-term partner for our company. They already heavily invest in the industrial and logistics sector in North America and have been looking for a suitable partner to expand their exposure to the UK/European logistics market for some time.

“With over $5bn invested in real estate, managed by a highly entrepreneurial Toronto-based property team, their backing is a massive endorsement to our business and for Doncaster.”

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The new FARRRS road will connect junction three of the M18 and Robin Hood with links into Rossington village and iPort.

The new road is not due to be completed until January 2016 but the stretch to the iPort site is expected to be ready within a year.

Plans are already in place to build 1,200 homes on the former Rossington Colliery site and last month planning permission was granted for a new business park development close to Robin Hood Airport which could create 1,700 jobs.

Caroline Flint, the MP for the area where iPort will be built, said: “To have a major global investor backing iPort says that Doncaster’s ambition to have a new major rail freight interchange is about to come true.

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“iPort will be a bridge between road, rail and sea and create thousands of new jobs in the process.”

Doncaster Council is considering creating an enterprise zone covering the area around the airport in a bid to attract more businesses.

Enterprise zones are areas where businesses that invest are rewarded with benefits such as lower rates and tax allowances on new equipment.