Planning permission is being sought for a £40 million scheme in Stevenage that is expected to create up to 300 jobs.

Property developers Fiera Real Estate and Wrenbridge purchased a five-acre site on the Pin Green Industrial Estate in an off market transaction in June, so that they can build a single logistics facility measuring 10,824 square metres.

Now, a planning application has been submitted to Stevenage Borough Council for the site, which had previously been earmarked for a Morrisons superstore, but these plans were scrapped in April.

The new plans include demolishing the existing warehouse, which was previously occupied by Bond International but is currently vacant, and replacing it will a 10,824 sqm building.

The proposals also include parking spaces for 108 cars, eight motorcycles, 18 lorries and 26 bicycles.

A planning statement accompanying the application says the developers want "to attract a range of occupiers", from light industrial and manufacturing to storage and distribution uses, "with unrestricted 24/7 hours of operation for the unit".

Office space within the building will also allow for "a broader range of jobs, including management operations and administrative roles", the statement says, with the proposals as a whole "likely to generate between 159 and 300 jobs", therefore "representing a significant economic benefit".

Although the site is within an employment area and is largely surrounded by other industrial units, there are homes to the south of Cartwright Road and to the south-west of Wedgwood Way.

The planning statement says: "The existing trees, along with the introduction of proposed trees, will minimise the visual impact of the development on the residential uses.

"It is therefore considered that the proposed development would not have any detrimental impact upon privacy and would not be visually overbearing."

In terms of noise, a noise survey and impact assessment concludes that the noise from the facility would have a low impact, the planning statement says.

"The proposed scheme has been designed to minimise the noise impact of HGV movements by relocating the HGV access, servicing and parking to the north of the site, as far away from the residential [homes] as possible," the statement explains.

"Further, the building will act as a barrier to noise between the proposed service yard and the [homes]."

To view the planning application in full, visit stevenage.gov.uk and search for reference 24/00525/FPM in the planning portal.