The former site of Speke Airport is set to be turned into a multifunctional industrial park, complete with Liverpool offices, a service yard and a car park to appeal to a range of businesses within sight of the city’s airport.
The developers of the new site, Palladium Group, have stated that they have planned to work with the site for several years, as it is the last remaining part of what is currently Liverpool International Business Park that has remained empty and undeveloped for several years.
The new park aims for a value-added environmentally-conscious approach, with cycle bay facilities, car parks with vehicle charging points and solar panels fitted at key locations to generate power.
This, along with being close transportation links to Liverpool John Lennon Airport has made Speke an important location for business in Merseyside, and the new development aims to strengthen this connection further.
Liverpool International Business Park was built on the former site of Speke Airport, which was itself built on grounds that is ultimately part of the Speke Hall Estate, which began scheduling flights as early as 1930 to Croyden Airport, at the time the UK’s only international airport.
This agreement to build the airport on Speke Hall land would be formalised in 1937 when Liverpool City Council leased 110 acres of land to the Air Ministry on a 999-year basis, which would quickly lead to the airport becoming an RAF base during the Second World War.
It was also, somewhat ignominiously, the site of the shortest air-to-air combat sortie in the history of aviation, when Flight Lieutenant Denys Gillam shot down a Junkers 88 tactical bomber whilst still taking off.
The new business park is directly next to the old control tower and two of the old aeroplane hangers, preserved as a vital part of Liverpool’s aviation heritage.