Pork Farms

 

Recent History


In 2006, Venture Capital Company, Vision Capital acquired the Bowyers (Pork Farms limited) operation as a going concern. Bowyers at that time was a UK brand leader in pork products for the food retail industry and employed approximately 450 workers at the Trowbridge site. In 2007 Vision Capital relocated the production from Trowbridge to other sites in England and closed this operation.

Following the plant closure, the Council was been engaged in lengthy discussions with agents acting for Vision Capital and Wiltshire College to discuss the possible development of sites formerly owned by Pork Farms Ltd at Stallard Street and Shails Lane, Trowbridge.  The intention was to move the present Trowbridge campus of Wiltshire College from its present site to the former Bowyers’ factory site. This was anticipated to be a project of approximately £80 million in value and required funding at that level by the Learning and Skills Council under the “Building Colleges for the Future” programme.  At the same time, Vision Capital (who also own the former Bowyers cold store site at Shails Lane) , sought to develop housing on this site as enabling development to facilitate the College development.

Following these discussions between the parties outline development proposals were worked up, and planning applications submitted in Spring 2009.  Proposals for the development of the Stallard Street site were more advanced than those for the site at Shails Lane.

In August 2009, it became evident that Wiltshire College’s bid to LSC was one of a large number that were unsuccessful due to over-subscription to this fund. Having looked at alternative funding sources and identified no other delivery mechanism, the College were forced to halt this scheme and withdrew their application in November 2009. Further discussions with Vision and their agents resulted in the withdrawal of their outline residential application on Shails Lane, principally because their was no longer a scheme for this development to “enable” and resistance from the planning authority to loss of employment land at this location as well as the appropriateness of a residential development in a predominantly industrial setting.

In early 2010, the mixed use development for the Listed and historic buildings at Stallard Street was consented. However, there was no clear way forward in terms of a viable development for the majority of Stallard Street or an acceptable development the Shails Lane site.

There being no clear way forward for the sites and no means of deliveringthe consented scheme, the Planning Consent for the conversion of the historic buildings was withdrawn in March 2011.

Site Proposal

In June 2011, the site was acquired by London Based private equity company and developer, Prorsus. In July Prorsus obtained the sign up of supermarket operator, Morrisons to the site and a new proposal for the former Bowyers factory began to emerge. The concept behind the proposals was for a multi-screen cinema and restaraunts/bars to be developed around a new riverside open space with the scheme underpinned by a new large Morrisons foodstore. In August 2011, cinema operator, Cineworld signed up to the development as did a number of restaraunt/bar operators. The scheme, named by the developer as Innox Riverside that is likely to come forward as a Planning Application is:

  • A total redevelopment of the former Bowyers factory  of 155,000 square metres
  • An 8-screen Cineworld cinema
  • At least 6 family restaraunts in converted historic and Listed facotry buildings
  • Cofffee shops
  • Family pub
  • New public open space and an improved riverisde setting
  • Morrisons Foodstore

It is anticipated that a planning application for this development will be submitted in October 2011.

www.innoxriverside.com