A local business park looks set for an expansion which would create hundreds of jobs after Leicestershire County Council approved funding. The land at Airfield Business Park, near Market Harborough, was once a Royal Air Force base during the Second World War but it fell into disuse in the 1950s.

Some of the land was later built on to create HMP Gartree, a high security prison in Harborough District, but the rest remain undeveloped until it was bought by Leicestershire County Council in 2016. The council saw the site as an opportunity to support the local economy by creating a commercial space that would both help local businesses expand and entice new enterprises into the region.

The first phase of the Airfield Business Park saw twelve new premises built and occupied during the pandemic. Now, the county council is looking to expand its offering with 16 new small units, two drive-throughs, and one large industrial unit for which a local business has already expressed an interest according to documents submitted to the council’s cabinet meeting last week.

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The scheme is expected to create 20 jobs through the construction phase and another 240 once complete and occupied. The council has already spent £2 million acquiring the land in 2016, it now anticipates it will cost another £16.5 million to see its vision for the business park brought to life.

The council’s cabinet approved the funding and the masterplan for the scheme at its meeting last week. It is expected this phase will bring in a little over £1 million a year when the work is completed.

The authority has said it has already pre-let 70 per cent of the proposed units and expects even more to be filled before construction is complete. While the council has approved the business case and funding for the scheme, planning permission will still need to be granted before any work can begin.

Full plans are expected to be submitted to the authority’s planning department by next month at the latest. It is hoped permission will be granted early next year, with work starting on site in January 2025, the documents state. If all runs to the expected schedule, work should be completed by February 2026 with the first businesses moving in to their new homes then as well.

Plans were previously submitted for this next phase of the business park in 2021 which would have seen 34 smaller units created. That planning application was expected to be decided in the coming months. However, due to an increase in construction costs, this is no longer thought to be a viable project.