Plans considered for £30 million Automated Distribution and Manufacturing Centre

July 2024

Ashfield District Council’s Planning Committee will consider plans to approve a world-class distribution and manufacturing skills centre in Ashfield at its July 31 meeting.

The Automated Distribution and Manufacturing Centre (ADMC) is the Council’s flagship project from their £62.6 million Towns Deal and is set to cement the District as the heart of innovation and technology within the East Midlands.

The plans for the ADMC, which – if approved – will sit on Lowmoor Road, Kirkby, have ambitions to ignite the adoption of automation and advanced manufacturing in business across the region. This will drive productivity and bring more high skilled jobs to Ashfield. The centre will work with businesses on how technology can help them, enable them to test how things could work within their own business and train their staff on how to use and maintain automated systems.

The ADMC is a key component for the Council to achieve their ambitions for Ashfield to leverage its strong manufacturing heritage and central location in the UK, to have businesses and a workforce thriving with many highly paid and skilled roles within Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM) sectors.

The broader site will be a £100 million+ technology park development attracting inward investment and creating higher economic growth opportunities for the residents of Ashfield.

As part of the development native trees and hedging will be planted to create a new high-quality habitat and to act as a screen from the residential estate across from the site. A new species-rich meadow and a wet grassland meadow will be created to further improve the biodiversity. The site for the facility is an example of how repurposing land can actually improve it’s environmental and natural value, and is an appropriate use of land that is prime for redevelopment.

Cllr Matthew Relf, Executive Lead Member for Growth, Regeneration, and Local Planning, said: “The ADMC is a hugely exciting project for the Ashfield, the benefits of which will be felt for generations to come. Businesses small and large will be able to free up their staff from mundane tasks to focus on the interesting so we can have productive businesses offering well paid jobs.

“The ADMC will also attract further investment into Ashfield due to its size and state-of-the-art facilities, creating a legacy of industry, technology, and innovation. The economic benefits of this project are incredible and will allow the Council to unlock the District’s true potential. This is all part of our broader regeneration strategy to make Ashfield a fantastic place to live, work, study, play and visit.”

Discover more about major regeneration projects in Ashfield.