Wymondham major player in economy

The growing role of Wymondham as a major player within the Norfolk economy has been underlined with news that the Gateway 11 business park is to expand.

The growing role of Wymondham as a major player within the Norfolk economy has been underlined with news that the Gateway 11 business park is to expand.

A £6.5m Focus DIY store and an 'office village' are planned for the business park, which is adjacent to the A11 and is already home to the police headquarters.

And the property company behind the scheme is also looking to develop nearly 30 acres of land on the other side of the road for a mixture of office, industrial and warehousing use. If planning permission for the site - tentatively called the Browick Road Business Park - is granted, it is hoped that work could start sometime in 2009-10.

Gateway 11 is home to the likes of East Anglian Motor Auctions and Williams Lea as well as the police. The Focus store was granted planning permission last year and the work is due to start next month and be completed by the end of the year.

The application for the offices will be submitted soon, and Wrenbridge anticipates that work on that part of the project will start towards the end of the year. On completion of both parts of the scheme, there will be three acres of the site still to be developed.

Ben Coles, development director at commercial property developer Wrenbridge, said: “It is a real achievement to have acquired planning and finally be ready to develop the unit at Gateway 11.

“The deal also involves putting in the final phase of infrastructure on the park which unlocks the apex of the site, where we are aiming to submit a planning application for a substantial new office village.”

Ewen McLeod, also of Wrenbridge, said: “There is a real shortage of employment land available in Norwich, and Wymondham is in a good strategic location on the A11. Gateway 11 is a prominent site with good infrastructure.

“Wymondham is a rapidly growing town and it's standing on its own two feet rather than simply being a satellite of Norwich. The potential for the business parks and the town is great.”

The news about the Gateway 11 and Browick developments is just the latest boost to the infrastructure along the main Norwich-London road.

The Rural Enterprise Valley (Rev) project is a multi-million-pound scheme that aims to establish the A11 corridor in and around Thetford as a key location for companies involved in the engineering and motorsport industries.

Meanwhile, the Kings Warren business Park at Red Lodge in Suffolk is another scheme in Wrenbridge's portfolio.

In 2006 there was the long-awaited opening of the Attleborough bypass, meaning that the eight miles of road south of Thetford is now the only stretch of the A11 that remains undualled.