Work starts on £14m business park for Weymouth, Dorset

DORSET is poised for a jobs bonanza now that diggers have turned the first earth on the multi-million pound Link Park project in Weymouth.

Bournemouth-based Mildren Construction began work yesterday on the scheme in Chickerell, Weymouth. It has been earmarked for employment uses, and is expected to attract large national firms looking to expand their operations into South Dorset, as well as regional independent businesses, which need larger premises.

Chief Executive of DJ Property, Mickey Jones, who has spent five years masterminding the Link Park project, said: 'Link Park is an incredible shopfront for businesses because it's so prominent. The transport connections are superb – Link Park is surrounded by newly-built roads, it has a direct bus link into Weymouth town centre, and the Olympic cycle path runs next to it. It's also two minutes from the Weymouth relief road, making deliveries easy and predictable. This is what South Dorset businesses have been crying out for.'

Outline planning consent has been gained, and a detailed planning application has been submitted, for the first phase. Occupiers will benefit from super-fast broadband connections, as the timing of this development coincides with BT's national project to upgrade broadband infrastructure. From mid-2012 onwards, Link Park and many other locations throughout Weymouth, and the rest of Dorset, will benefit considerably from this investment. 

The first buildings at Link Park will have half of their roofs facing south, making them ideal for PV energy generation. Buildings will be constructed to a design quality not currently available in the area, and will have enviable green credentials.

Mickey said: 'These modern buildings will ooze quality. Materials will include high quality cladding, and powder-coated aluminium doors and windows. There will be a mixed palette of textures and colours, thus creating an exciting, modern design.'

He added: 'These will be the best quality buildings available in the local market, and due to their prominent location, demand is expected to be high.'

Work to create the access road into Link Park means that one lane of the B3157 Chickerell Link Road will be closed for approximately seven weeks. It is expected to be fully open again by Easter. 

Mickey added: 'An employment site of this kind needs a dedicated access route to make it safe. To build this, we need to close one carriageway. I'm sorry if this causes any temporary inconvenience or disruption for motorists, but this development creates significant economic prosperity. We decided to do this now, in January, February and March, rather than disrupt the peak tourist seasons.' 

Anyone interested in finding out more about Link Park should contact Mickey Jones via his website.

ABOUT DJ PROPERTY

DJ Property leases industrial, retail, office, leisure, and storage properties in South Dorset. DJ Property wholly owns and manages all of its properties. Follow Mickey on Twitter at @MickeyJonesDJP

ABOUT MILDREN CONSTRUCTION 

Mildren are an established regional civil engineering and building company based in Christchurch, Dorset. A complete range of construction services are available tailored to suit individual client requirements supported by a professional, technical, supervisory and operational staff.