Planning permission for a new depot at Tilbury in Essex for GAP Group Ltd (GAP) has been secured following the involvement of the national property consultancy, Carter Jonas. The 6.8-acre site is located adjacent to Tilbury Port, immediately east of a new Amazon Distribution Centre.
Two new industrial buildings of 10,000 sq ft and 8,000 sq ft respectively will accommodate three divisions; Plant and Tools and Lifting, and Non-Mechanical and Welfare. Both buildings will have two storey offices incorporating hire desks, admin, welfare and sales functions. The remainder of the site will be prepared for the storage of various plant and equipment ready for hire, plus marshalling areas for the processing of equipment ready for hire and those items of plant awaiting preparation.
GAP purchased the Tilbury site in 2017. The firm’s first application for planning permission was refused with the notice citing reasons of transport impact, flood risk, a lack of contribution to the adjacent port activities and the site’s metropolitan green belt location. Carter Jonas’ Planning team was then appointed to review and amend the application prior to resubmission. This involved having to address the issues raised in the refusal notice and establish the ‘very special circumstances’ required to justify the creation of a new depot at the site. Thurrock Council ultimately accepted that despite the proposals’ apparent conflict with the Local Plan, the application scheme passed the stringent tests required for development in the green belt.
With more than 1,700 employees and over 130 locations, GAP is the UK’s largest independent equipment rental company, hiring out an extensive range of equipment to industries including construction, utilities, civil engineering and events. In recent years, GAP has focused on a diversification strategy that has seen the company grow from its traditional Plant & Tool hire roots to a multi-service offering with eight divisions, providing customers with a complete hire solution.
Richard Sykes-Popham, Partner, Carter Jonas said: “GAP had been looking to establish a new depot east of London for some time and the Tilbury site provided a perfect and somewhat scarce opportunity to do this. It was therefore critical that planning related complications could be overcome.
“The site has a complex history. Although it had been earmarked for allocation for employment uses in an emerging Local Plan, and indeed had outline planning permission for commercial development, the Plan had not moved forward. As a result, the site remained in the green belt, despite the development of adjacent sites. We assessed the site and the proposed development against the national policy tests and provided specialist advice on how to overcome the previous reasons for refusal. Thankfully we were able to meet the necessary requirements and assist GAP in pushing ahead with the scheme. We are now working with the GAP team on a number of projects across the country as they continue to meet their ambitious growth targets.”
Douglas Anderson, Joint Managing Director, GAP Group Limited: “With over 130 depots UK wide and a steadily growing business, there was a strong business case to create a large multi-divisional presence in the Thurrock area. The “Island Site” in Tilbury Docks became available and the port-related business potential was an extra attraction for us. We were delighted with the purchase, but utterly frustrated and disappointed when we received our planning refusal. Thanks to the help of Carter Jonas and their planning team we managed to mount a very successful application and we can now start our construction programme”
Gavin Smith, Property Manager GAP Group Limited: “When we purchased the site, we were unaware of the historic planning complexity of the site, and that was despite a reasonably sound due diligence process. When we received the refusal, we called in Carter Jonas to undertake a comprehensive and professional application the second time around. I am delighted to say that this was a very astute appointment and we now have a full consent thanks to the Carter Jonas planning team and our contractors are now on site.”
