21.05.2013
Transport minister officially starts construction of London Distribution Park
Port of Tilbury Media Release
Minister for Transport, Stephen Hammond MP, visited The Port of Tilbury's London Distribution Park today (21 May) for a 'turf-cutting' ceremony to officially mark the construction phase of the 70-acre warehousing development.
London Distribution Park (LDP), a joint venture between Forth Ports and Roxhill Developments, received outline planning permission in 2012 and will bring more than 940,000 sq. ft. of new high-quality distribution facilities. These will include high quality warehousing from 50,000 sq.ft. upwards and 17 acres of haulage facilities complementing the Port of Tilbury's exclusive multimodal connectivity, including rail, port and barge services. The development is expected to bring up to 1100 jobs and is part of the Essex Port's growth plan.
Welcoming the Minister to the Port today, Forth Port's Group Chief Executive Charles Hammond said:
"We are delighted to officially mark the construction phase of LDP with the Minister today. This multi-million pound development is an excellent asset for our national and international customers who can take advantage of the Port's excellent facilities in logistics and distribution.
The Port of Tilbury is a significant part of the group it's a dynamic and diverse port handling the full range of cargoes with specialist expertise in the handling of paper and forest products, containers & Ro Ro, grain and bulk commodities and construction and building materials with an annual throughput of over 16million tonnes. This new development marks another major step in the Port's ambitious growth plan and will bring over a thousand jobs to the local area."
Shipping Minister, Stephen Hammond MP said:
"I welcome Forth Ports and Roxhill's investment in the London Distribution Park. Ports and associated businesses, such as logistics parks, can be a key contributor to economic growth both for imports and exports, as well as creating many much needed new jobs.
Building a logistics park next to the port with its good rail links the Port of Tilbury will help reduce the number of miles goods travel by road to reach their final destination and so help reduce the effects of road transport on the environment, congestion and pollution."
Commenting on the ceremony, Jason Dalby, Managing Director at Roxhill Developments said:
"It is great to mark the construction phase of this important development today. We are confident that LDP will satisfy many potential customer requirements and we have speculatively invested £5m in site infrastructure including a new road, landscaping and flood bunds. The port is a significant distribution centre and is well positioned to access the M25 orbital motorway and the rest of the UK's national motorway network."
LDP is the next phase of Tilbury's continuing growth and expansion and follows a £95million investment in the London Container Terminal in 2012. The new development will be situated on the immediate outskirts of the Port with construction underway. Forth Ports, owner of the Port of Tilbury, and Roxhill Developments are joint-owners of the development and are working closely together in the delivery of the logistics park
