THE massive £20m expansion of a pioneering business and technology park will bring more than 1,300 new jobs to Runcorn.
The Heath Business and Technical Park has lodged a planning application with Halton Borough Council to increase the size of the facility by a third.
SOG Ltd, the owner and operator of the former ICI site, plan to add another 200,000sq ft of office and laboratory facilities.
If the plans are approved, SOG bosses say more than 1,300 new jobs will be created.
SOG Ltd took over the old ICI headquarters site in 2000. Since then 170 British and international companies have been attracted to the 50-acre business park and the site now employs over 1,700 people, remarkably more than in ICI's heyday.
Peter Cook, managing director of SOG Ltd, said: 'The growth of The Heath has been phenomenal, particularly when you consider we have had no Government investment. The Heath is now employing more people than ICI did and, if our planning application is successful, by 2011 nearly 3,000 people will earn their livelihoods here. This has got to be fantastic news for the region and the local economy.
'Many leading figures have given their support to The Heath, including Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor Gordon Brown in a joint visit last year.
'Mr Blair cited The Heath as a shining example of successful regeneration rising from the ashes of industrial disaster.'
The Prime Minister said: 'To see it as a thriving business park with so many different businesses involved is tremendously heartening.'
Halton Borough Council Planning Department are due to consider the application next month.
simon.drury@cheshirenews.co.uk
