Thurrock Council, the local administration, has approved a new ten-year Local Development Order (LDO), which endorses expansion at DP World’s London Gateway Logistics Park. The facility serves the adjacent intermodal port and is part of a wider Freeport estate.
Gaining Local Development Order status is an important part of the often complicated process of planning approval in the UK. The LDO supports the Park’s customers by streamlining planning processes for new construction projects. DP World says that the approval makes London Gateway attractive for fresh investment.
Rapid growth
London Gateway is part of the solution to the UK’s shortage of logistics space, particularly of modern warehousing space. Under the LDO, new builds at the Park are granted final approval within 28 days. That, says DP World, enables rapid progression from agreeing a lease to construction and establishment of new facilities. The company also claims that new buildings are constructed to BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ classification as standard.
“Our new 10-year Local Development Order, combined with our access to transport connections and important markets, makes London Gateway Logistics Park well placed to continue our rapid growth,” said Alan Holland, Chief Executive Officer for the Park.
Permanent jobs
DP World run two port facilities in England, the other being their Southampton terminal. Both ports are rail connected. At Southampton, an incentive scheme encourages shippers to move inbound containers by rail, in preference to road (see RailFreight.com report). There is also a bidirectional intermodal rail connection between the two ports. London Gateway will soon begin receiving port calls from MSC, which has transferred traffic from Felixstowe as part of a trade routes shack up under its new Gemini collaboration with Hapag-Lloyd.
A previous 10-year LDO was agreed in 2013 and resulted in the construction of 17 state-of-the-art facilities for 16 occupiers, totalling more than 4.0 million sq. ft and creating 1,500 permanent jobs onsite. The Park also sits within the government-backed Thames Freeport, which was established in 2021, providing tenants of the site with wide-ranging financial benefits.
Local economy and new tenants
The Park is the largest facility of its type in the UK, with unrivalled connections to key markets, and has now developed half of its 9.0 million sq. ft site, with the 10-year extension expected to support the utilisation of the Park’s remaining space. “I am delighted to continue our strong partnership with Thurrock Council,” added Alan Holland. “We can support the creation of hundreds of new jobs by DP World and our customers, boost prosperity across the local area, and enable us to offer market leading levels of sustainability and innovation.
Councillor Lee Watson, Cabinet Member for Good Growth, Thurrock Council, said the new LDO will help ensure that the development of the site can continue. “That benefits the local economy and local people. It will help pave the way for inward investment which should help create good local jobs and bring other economic benefits to the borough.”
This year, the Park’s first two manufacturing tenants, Destiny Entertainments and Ranson, moved into new state-of-the-art facilities at the beginning of 2025.