FOLLOWING a year in which land prices in the St Helens area reached an all-time high of £150,000 per acre, signs are that 1997 is also likely to be a good year for land and property development in the borough.

Work is underway on the former Yew Tree Industrial Estate at Haydock by Allied London Industrial Properties Ltd. to transform outdated industrial units into a high security complex with new highway access and environmental and unit upgrades. Around £11 million will be invested in the 45- acre site, to be renamed Haydock Cross, which has a total of some 634,000 sq ft of premises.

Also at Haydock work is due to commence on a new £1 million road to create direct access from the Point 23 estate to the East Lancashire Road which will benefit all the Haydock trading areas and coincides with further planned development.

Altogether at Haydock, more than a million sq ft has been developed, is under construction or planned, at investment levels of £40 million.

On the currently fully-let parks office complex, also at Haydock, planning permission is being sought for 30,000 sq ft of 'speculative' development with construction planned to commence in the next few months.

In the southern corridor area of the borough - adjacent to the St Helens Linkway - the former Volex site, now Lea Green Business Park, is being converted by Langtree Properties into top-quality industrial units ranging in size from 5,000 to 38,000 sq ft with the help of an English Partnerships grant of £417,000.

Williams Tarr have around eight acres immediately available for 'design and build' close to junction 7 of the M62; and at Lea Green Farm, which straddles the Linkway, work should commence in 1997 on infastructure works which will open up more than 100 acres for mixed office, commercial and industrial properties. In the St Helens town centre area further improvements are planned including further pedestrianisation and other works, part funded by a successful Capital Challenge Fund bid. In Church Square Shopping Centre work will commence on a £5 million new market hall and a department store.

The major new World of Glass Heritage Science and Arts centre designed to attract in excess of 100,000 visitors to St Helens annually (linked to the town centre) currently awaits the outcome of a bid to the National Lottery for a substantial grant towards the £13 million funding requirements.

There is a significant increase in house building and improvements in leisure and hotel facilities is on-going with some 100 extra bed spaces being created during the year including 66 rooms and extended conference facilities at the Haydock Thistle Hotel.

Not only does St Helens benefit from excellent links with the national motorway network - being bounded by the M6, M62, M58 and M57 - the borough has full Development Area status and benefits from the Merseyside Special Investment Fund with additional grants being available for the training and recruitment of staff.

Advisory services for businesses are recognised as being amongst the best in the country with the St Helens Chamber of Commerce, Training and Enterprise Ltd. offering a diverse range of support facilities under one roof including an integral Business Link division.

Support for businesses from St Helens Council complements the St Helens Chamber provision and new inwardly investing companies are assured of an effective business support mechanism.

Council leader Dave Watts said: "A record 500 companies made approaches in 1996. We have had a promising start and I am confident that even greater success will reward the efforts of the St Helens partnership in 1997."

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