Outline planning permission for a 'high-quality business park' in North Staffordshire has been submitted despite opposition from a local parish council. 

Indurent, formed by St. Modwen Logistics and Industrials REIT, want to build six warehouses totalling around 220,000 square metres and the company estimates it will create 3,500 new jobs with another 1,200 created in the local supply chain.

The 192-acre site has already been marked as an area which could be released from the Green Belt for future development in Newcastle-under-Lyme's final draft Local Plan and a public consultation has been held on the proposals.

Over 50 people have already objected to the outline plans and Audley Parish Council has previously opposed the inclusion of the site in the draft Local Plan, now placing a banner in the village urging residents to have their say on the plans. 

Developers want to install a new signal-controlled junction on the A500 to enable access to the site and there will be further works to the A500 roundabout which links Staffordshire to Cheshire under the M6.

There are also plans to decrease the speed limit to 60mph on the approach to the proposed junction. The current lay-bys on the A500 near junction 16 will be removed and replaced with a dedicated lorry park on the proposed site.

The developers also told Stoke Nub News in March that the full development of the site would likely take "six or seven years".

The design and access statement says: "The proposed allocation at Junction 16 represents an opportunity to create a high-quality Business Park encompassing a range of building sizes, mainly industrial and warehousing. 

"The range of employment unit sizes will be carefully judged to meet the increasingly high-quality requirements of a growing logistics industry. Occupiers will 'buy into' a long-term vision. 

"Creating the right environment in which to work is important to enable staff to enjoy work, be more creative, more productive and to improve mental well being. 

"It will help to attract and retain the best people for the future. A sense of community created by building design, landscape and the public realm, with active on-site management will ensure an environment which is both a relaxing atmosphere, yet with a bustle and energy through interaction which is attractive to occupiers.

"The vision is to provide a high-quality business park based on good sustainable principles creating new employment opportunities. 

"The scale of the development will accommodate for a range of business sizes, thus providing a sustainable and holistic development, with a focus on providing very large (about 300,000sqft plus) units. 

"Although the site is physically separated from any major residential settlement, landscape boundaries to the site will provide screening for the properties adjacent and will help break down the massing of the various development plots."

Read the full outline plans here.

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