Heysham Gateway

Information about the Heysham Gateway area and related initiatives

Overview

The Heysham Gateway area is associated with  the expanding Port of Heysham, a key route to Ireland, and the two EDF owned nuclear power stations. It is home to extensive infrastructure related to the electricity transmission network and is the favoured location for connecting offshore wind turbines in the Irish Sea and new nuclear power stations planned in Cumbria to the National Grid. Coupled with its location next to Morecambe Bay, the redevelopment of the Heysham Gateway area offers a unique opportunity to properly integrate much needed economic growth with the opportunity to conserve and enhance key environmental assets.

The city council is seeking to make the existing and potential employment sites in the area better able to capitalise on the completion of the Bay Gateway M6 link road.  The Heysham Gateway area has a history of heavy industrial use which has left a legacy of contamination and dereliction.  In addition, strategic environmental and transport issues have proved an impediment to investment / development on identified employment land.  Sites at Heysham Gateway are particularly suitable for development related to the energy sector as well as general industrial development.

There is a need for work to appreciate and help frame the wider Heysham Gateway concept / context and support the practical action on individual sites which has been hampered by a lack of strategic approach/agreement to key issues.  There is a need for a widely agreed high level strategy to provide a practical pathway to the delivery over the next 10 years to provide for existing and growing needs and promote better development outcomes.  Longer term, this will help establish the Heysham Gateway as a premier business location in the north-west for target sectors.

The principles are to establish the Heysham Gateway as a premier business location in the north-west and:

• Deliver a portfolio of new and improved industrial sites/premises to meet business needs with priority given to local business expansion requirements, high job creation/growth, energy generation, environmental/recycling, and facilities to serve the projected increase in port traffic.
• Address uncertainty in the market and overcome the many long-term viability issues created by infrastructure deficiencies, dereliction, contamination, and ownership fragmentation.
• Through strategic drainage and habitat projects improve environmental quality and recreational opportunities.  

 

Imperial Road Site Masterplan

A focus is Lancaster City and Lancashire County Councils’ surplus landholdings to the west and east of Imperial Road.  These landholdings form part of the wider Lancashire West Business Park “employment land” allocation in the adopted Local Plan.

The land has constraints due to its historic industrial use and environmental interest.  The site was mainly used as an ICI chemical works and features four large and disused kerosene tanks embedded in the ground.  These “Final Product” tanks form the line of distinct ownership between city and county councils (each organisation owning 2 of the tanks).   There is significant ecological interest and part of the site has a local  Biological Heritage Site designation.  

The overarching vision for the initial development is to deliver new and improved premises to meet current and future business needs and help set the tone for the wider vision for regeneration within the Heysham Gateway.  Site investigation and feasibility work is currently being undertaken funded by the Lancaster City Council and Lancashire County Council (through its Lancashire Economic Recovery and Growth Fund).

The land mitigation/remediation investigations and development appraisal options already investigated at a high -level show there is scope to:

 

• Deliver a major employment focussed development, potentially targeted at known growth sectors.
• Unlock under used and blighted brownfield land while securing significant environmental benefits both for the natural environment and in exemplar building design. 
• Generate a significant financial return on any investment for the city council
• Attract inward investment

Last updated: 21 May 2024