Cass Associates, acting on behalf of Orica UK Ltd, has obtained a series of planning permissions which will underpin the regeneration of a long-standing explosive manufacturing complex at Shevington, near to Wigan.

The site is characterised by magazines and process buildings in an extensive woodland setting. It falls in the Greater Manchester Green Belt but is designated as a Major Developed Site in the Green Belt.

Our approach to regeneration is to use the value of housing land to enable a complex remediation task and significant environmental renewal for an area which is rich in wildlife and which has a strong woodland structure. The housing is clustered into two zones currently occupied by factory buildings and will occupy less than one quarter of the site. The rest of the site will be managed in the long term as a sustainable ecological reserve providing new and enhanced habitats for many protected wildlife species.

This is an interesting example of how site remediation, new development and environmental renewal can be integrated. It will lead to comprehensive regeneration of a site which has been in explosive related use since 1880. The benefits for the local community, for wildlife, for the woodland and for the particular qualities of the Green Belt will be significant and lasting.