16 February 2018
Business Link: Leafbridge
With MIPIM a matter of weeks away, Stirlin have been preparing for the event which will mark the official launch of Leafbridge, our largest development to date.
Managing Director, James Kirby, sat down with Business Link magazine to discuss the vision for Leafbridge, the growing economy in Lincolnshire and our involvement with ‘Team Lincolnshire’ at MIPIM.
Can you tell us a bit about the Leafbridge development?
Leafbridge is a 44-acre development site in North Hykeham, Lincoln and our largest development to date. Our ambition is to create a new place of enterprise, with high specification commercial space available for both local firms who need to relocate due to expansion and from national operators who want a presence in Lincoln.
Leafbridge is estimated to support 400 jobs, including the potential creation of over 200 new roles, and supporting the local economy. What other benefits will it have for the immediate area?
The site is adjacent the popular Access Lincoln Transport Hub, which benefits from national rail connections, bus routes to Lincoln and the surrounding areas, a ‘park and ride’ service and a hire bike scheme. These services will be enhanced with additional parking facilities and an improved entrance.
The site itself features several lakes, which will be enhanced through the implementation of a landscape design strategy and opened to the public. As the site develops we see the potential for further open spaces within the site to be used by the occupants for informal meetings and lunches, encouraging collaboration across the various businesses.
The initial planning application for a mixed-use development was refused at planning committee in 2016 which led to a review of the masterplan and resubmission. Can you tell us a bit more about this process and whether or not it strengthened the final application?
Whilst the refusal of the original planning application was difficult to comprehend at first, Stirlin are passionate about delivering development sites, rather than land banking, so there was never a doubt about ‘going again’. We have been developing commercial sites for over 10 years so the switch to a commercial scheme made a lot of sense.
As a brownfield site, with its location adjacent the Access Lincoln Transport Hub, we have always viewed Leafbridge as an opportunity, a place which could positively benefit the local area, so we were delighted when the revised application was granted planning permission in October 2017.
