NWDA refuse further funding for Omega

Jul 22 2008 By Alex Turner

THE £1bn Omega park in Warrington will not have a funding gap plugged by the North West Regional Development Agency (NWDA).
The long-planned 500-acre business park, to be built on the site of the former Burtonwood World War II US Army air base, could house up to 25,000 jobs over 25 years.
But the NWDA has told Miller Developments and the Royal Bank of Scotland that it should not expect further public funding.
And it also cast doubt on the suitability of the later phases of the park, with NWDA chief executive Steve Broomhead arguing that the “strategic rationale” for the scheme had changed since they first backed the development.
It is hoped that the £70m first phase, which will be mostly logistics distribution, offices, retail, leisure and community facilities, will be open for business in spring 2009.
The project, being undertaken by a joint venture comprising Miller Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and English Partnerships, was first put forward in 2001.
Planning permission was first sought in 2003 but was soon hit by delays. Liverpool, Manchester and Salford city councils objected to the scheme on the grounds that it would be detrimental to their own economic development.
The Highways Agency was also unhappy fearing the nearby M62 would not be able to handle the volume of traffic generated by the project.
The rows dragged on into 2006 with and at one point the three local authorities were prepared to go to the High Court to stop Omega going ahead.