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£107 million development plan for Alderley Park goes out to consultation

Cheshire East Council’s cabinet has approved a draft development framework for the bioscience hub being created at AstraZeneca’s former Alderley Park site.

In March 2014, after AstraZeneca announced the transfer of its research and development staff to Cambridge, the site was sold to Manchester Science Partnerships (MSP).

MSP is proposing to invest £107 million over 10 years to improve the site, repurpose buildings to make them suitable for multi-occupancy, decommission redundant facilities and invest in both maintenance and improvement of key assets to retain the site’s world class R&D capabilities.

Alderley Park is of paramount importance to the local economy and the life science sector in the North West.

It has played a key role in the development of many new drugs, including cancer treatments, and many of its facilities and assets are unique in Europe.

AstraZeneca’s move is currently six months ahead of schedule, so MSP needs to move quickly before talented people find jobs elsewhere.

Therefore, it wants to bring forward Phase 1 of its investment strategy and make a major capital investment to maintain and upgrade existing assets by the end of 2015.

Leader of Cheshire East Council, Councillor Michael Jones, said: “Our aim is to create an independent, self-sustaining, world-class hub for life sciences, while also protecting the heritage of this unique site.

“The early signs are very promising and we hope that a redeveloped Alderley Park could support as many as 7,000 jobs, which is more than were employed at the peak of AstraZeneca’s activity.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sophia Taha .