Axiom outline planning application submitted

The outline planning application has been submitted for a new employment and logistics site adjacent to junction 32 of the M62 near Castleford.

Gillespies was commissioned by Axiom Yorkshire Limited to prepare a landscape masterplan for the £12M Axiom junction 32 development.

The project aims to provide over 140,000 sqm of new employment and logistics facilities and nearly 2,000 new jobs in Castleford.

The site is located in greenbelt and adjacent to residential communities. Therefore the proposed landscape plays an important role in terms of visual mitigation, providing local amenity and habitat enhancement.

Over nine hectares of new parkland, water bodies and landscape buffers are proposed, to integrate the development as sensitively as possible into the local area. This new landscape will offer a biodiverse and habitat-rich site, providing amenity and recreation space for the local community and future users of the development .

The main landscaped area is at the south-east corner of the site. It will be set around a large new water body with circular accessible trails, fitness trails, dog walking and seating areas. A segregated cycle route runs the entire length of the site to provide a sustainable transport corridor that connects local communities with the development plots.

Gillespies recently completed RIBA Stage 2 which culminated in the production of a landscape masterplan and landscape design statement that sets out the preliminary design intent and strategies for the proposed public realm in terms of character and proposed materials. The landscape statement supports the hybrid planning application and overarching Design and Access Statement.