THE hunt is on for business estates to follow in the lead of one Mid Cheshire park which has gone green.
Cheshire & Warrington Economic Alliance is providing £30,000 of funding towards the cost of a study to identify a further five Green Business Parks across the county.
The project, led by Groundwork Cheshire, follows on from the success of Winsford Industrial Estate, one of the first Green Business Parks in the North West.
It has since gone on to become a Business Improvement District, unlocking extra funds to improve life on the estate.
Groundwork aims to roll out the formula and regenerate a further five industrial estates.
The five will be chosen, out of a potential 35 across Cheshire and Warrington, following consultation with the businesses involved, and those chosen could benefit from £2.2m of investment over the next three years.
Martin Lee, chief executive of the Middlewich-based CWEA, said: 'This project carries so many benefits both to local people and businesses including safeguarding and creation of jobs, reduction in crime levels, improved landscaping and signage and better environmental management and has led to new businesses investing in the park.
'The Winsford project has demonstrated that this is a formula that works, so we are delighted to support it.'
Greville Kelly, of Groundwork, added: 'The Winsford business community have grasped the concept of organising themselves into a forum for collective action. The companies are aiming for continuous improvements to the estate, which will ensure lasting economic success for the 106 individual companies as well as supporting 4,000 local jobs.'
Winsford Industrial Estate manager Mike Kelly said becoming a Green Business Park had provided a number of benefits.
He said: 'The big thing is that the business community is working collectively together towards making physical improvements to the industrial estate and make it a prosperous place to do business.
'There have been energy efficiency projects on the estate, a cartridge recycling scheme and we encourage inter-trading on the estate, which has seen businesses cut down on the number of green miles they do by buying products from businesses on the estate.
'We also have bus stops now, which we didn't have before, and the signage to and around the estate has been improved.
'We have signs that glow at night which are proving very successful, because with so many foreign lorries visiting the industrial estate we don't want to have HGVs missing turnings and having to turn around in the estate at night.'
