Bournemouth Airport to develop Aviation Business Park
Backed by Christchurch Borough Council and Dorset County Council, the development programme will see an investment of £6 million and has the potential to create more than 1,000 new jobs over the next 10 years by attracting new businesses to the region, providing new opportunities for local businesses to expand and creating jobs during the construction stages, too.
MAG Developments has already secured outline planning permission for the project – granted December 2011 – to deliver a range of quality new business premises and commercial space, split across five separate plots, totalling around 35-acres, within the existing footprint of the 200-acre Aviation Business Park.
The new business premises vary in size with flexible open plan layouts in order to accommodate a wide range of potential occupiers and uses. Development will ultimately be driven by market demand and will be delivered in phases over the next 10 years.
Stephanie Mullenger, General Manager for Property at M.A.G, owner of Bournemouth Airport, said: “Aviation Business Park has maintained a high level of resilience through the economic downturn and has shown robustness in meeting demand for smaller industrial units and relocating larger units, with occupancy levels now at around 97%. It is a particularly favourable location for industrial occupiers within the A31-M27 Corridor, offering the unique benefit of direct access to the airport, its flights and its full-length commercial runway. This project will continue to build upon those successes, generate more economic activity in the area and support the growth of businesses already based at Aviation Business Park.
The plans will also deliver a range of regeneration and sustainability benefits, enhancing the already well-established Aviation Business Park and providing a clear long-term strategy to deliver facilities to meet the needs of modern business, meet economic development and job creation objectives and ensure the on-going success of the area
As part of the 10 year development programme, vehicular access to the site will also be significantly improved, along with public transport links, as well as pedestrian and bicycle access.
A total highway contribution of £1.1m will be made to Dorset County Council, which in its role as Highways Authority would deliver these works. M.A.G will make four payments of £275,000, upon the phased completion of new floor space.
Enhancements will also be made to Aviation Business Park’s existing infrastructure, including the internal road system, along with high quality landscaping and public realm improvements.
A new area of heathland habitat will also be created as part of the development programme, adding to the biodiversity of the Business Park and doubling up as an additional buffer area between Business Park and the SSSI area to the north.
The underlying design principle is to provide a mix of modern, commercially attractive units, which are highly flexible so they can be readily adapted between various uses over time. This ensures that different occupiers, thereby maximising the lifespan, can use space.
New, supporting amenities will be created as part of the ten-year development programme, including small-scale retail elements, financial services and crèche facilities, all of which are intended to enable Aviation Business Park to function in a more efficient and sustainable way, providing the types of on-site services occupiers will benefit from, whilst also helping to reduce the number car journeys.
The 200-acre Aviation Business Park at Bournemouth Airport currently provides 1.6m sq ft of business space, supports over 200 businesses and around 2,500 jobs. It comprises offices, industrial units, distribution, hangars and workshop sites, with a mix of both aviation and non-aviation related occupiers, which are generally attracted by the prestige of being based at the airport, which is perceived to be a secure environment, with high levels of connectivity as a transport hub and good access to skilled staff and on-site amenities. Major occupiers include: Honeywell, Babcock, Meggitt, AIM Aviation, JETS and Basepoint Business Centre.
Serving the Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch conurbations, Aviation Business Park is one of the most important employment locations in South East Dorset and alongside the Airport itself, is recognised by the Local Authorities as being of significant strategic importance to the local economy.
MAG Developments is the property and development arm of the largest UK-owned airport operator, M.A.G, and is responsible for the management, development and letting of all the commercial property and development land at Bournemouth, East Midlands, Humberside and Manchester airports. Its £335m mixed-use property portfolio comprises over 200 properties across 5000 acres of land, serving more than 850 companies. At Bournemouth Airport, MAG Developments’ existing investment properties comprise offices, industrial units, hangars, workshop sites and ground leases, currently valued at circa £40million.
MAG Developments is recognised as one of Europe’s leading airport property developers – it is leading the £650m Airport City Enterprise Zone project in Manchester; has recently completed the £22m development of the Radisson Blu East Midlands Airport, recognised as one of the greenest commercial hotels in Europe due to its sustainable credentials; and has already delivered over £6m of new build projects at Bournemouth’s Aviation Business Park in the last three-to-four years, including: 54,000 sq ft warehouse and distribution centre, purpose-built for local haulage company Shears Bros Transport Ltd; a 36,000 sq ft depot facility, purpose-built for express delivery company City Link Ltd; and the speculatively developed Cirrus Court, a 14-unit scheme totalling 19,485 sq ft of high specification industrial ‘starter units’ for small local businesses, which is now fully let.
M.A.G is the largest UK-owned airport operator serving around 25 million passengers and handling half a million tonnes of air freight every year, through its ownership and operation of Manchester, East Midlands, Bournemouth and Humberside airports. M.A.G also includes the commercial property company, MAG Developments.
