Proposed logistics development at M65 Junction 3 could create around 1,100 jobs, support local businesses, upgrade transport links and enhance more than 80 acres of wildlife habitat.
FI Property Group has highlighted the local benefits of its proposed Stanworth development, with the latest assessment forecasting more than 1,100 permanent jobs, up to £44.4 million of annual economic activity and a major programme of ecological and local highway improvements. Details of the assessment are available in the previously published planning committee report.
The proposed development at Stanworth, off Finnington Lane, would provide up to 1.3 million sq ft of large-scale logistics and distribution space. Planning officers recommended the application for approval before Chorley Council’s planning committee refused it in June 2026. FI Property Group has now announced its intention to appeal against the decision.
For local people, the important question is what that investment could mean in everyday life: more opportunities to work locally, more spending with local businesses and better access to the canal and surrounding area.
What could the jobs mean for local people?
The latest employment assessment forecasts 1,100 net permanent full-time equivalent jobs once the development is operational. In simple terms, this represents around 1,100 full-time jobs, both direct and indirect, across a broad range of vocations, including warehouse operations, driving, office work, senior management and support services. For people living nearby, that could mean more opportunities to find work closer to home rather than travelling further afield.
The employment created is forecast to add £40 million to £44.4 million to the local economy every year. That works out at roughly £770,000 to £850,000 of incremental economic activity every week once the site is fully occupied. The wider benefit is that wages earned are then spent on everyday things such as shopping, eating out, services and household bills, supporting activity in other local businesses.
The scheme’s Employment and Skills Plan would support local recruitment, apprenticeships, work experience, workforce training and opportunities for local suppliers. The construction phase is forecast to support 113 jobs over approximately 2.5 years, creating another route into employment while the development is being built.
Once occupied, the development is also estimated to generate £7 million to £7.8 million a year in business rates, which will be available to the local council to invest directly in vital local services.
That is a significant new source of business rates revenue associated with the development, alongside the wider economic activity created by businesses operating from the site.
The location beside the M65 is also important for local businesses. It gives employers direct access to the motorway network and creates space for companies that need large premises to grow, invest and employ people in the Central Lancashire area.
Investment in wildlife and green space
The proposals include around 42 acres of new landscaping and ecological habitat on the site, plus a further 40 acres of adjacent land for ecological enhancement and offsetting. Together, that is around 82 acres, equivalent to roughly 46 full-size football pitches, being used for habitat and environmental purposes alongside the development.
For local wildlife, the plans include species-rich grassland, native woodland, new trees and hedgerows, wetlands and new habitats alongside watercourses. Existing watercourses, trees and hedgerows would also be retained where possible. The aim is to create a more varied mix of habitats that can support birds, insects, small mammals and other wildlife, with habitat measures managed and monitored over the long term.
FI has also worked with the Canal & River Trust on ecological enhancements alongside the canal, together with contributions towards towpath improvements and bridge repairs. For local residents and visitors, this could mean a better-maintained and more accessible route, while also improving the canal corridor as a place for wildlife.
Better local connections
The development includes a package of transport and public-access improvements, including a new signal-controlled junction on the A674 with pedestrian and cycle crossings, improvements to the Old Toll Bar junction and measures around M65 Junction 3. The aim is to make the new development safer to access while also improving routes used by people living nearby.
The proposals include investment in the Blackburn to Chorley bus service over five years, plus a bespoke employee bus service and formal bus-stop provision. For people walking and cycling, the scheme includes new three-metre cycleways, two-metre footways and approximately 2.5 kilometres of canal towpath improvements, alongside improvements to more than 500 metres of public right of way between Stanworth Bridge and Preston Old Road.
With 1.3 million sq ft of high quality, flexible commercial space proposed across two large warehouse units, this site can help create long-lasting employment for local people, as well as including apprenticeship and work experience opportunities. These spaces would be ideal for major businesses as a regional hub here in Lancashire.
This scheme is designed to meet identified demand for additional employment floorspace regionally and locally within Chorley, providing specific opportunity to meet large scale logistics requirements in Chorley’s preferred area of search along the M65 corridor which provides excellent connectivity for businesses.
Beneficiaries of the development will include people who are looking for work living in Chorley, Blackburn and surrounding areas; those in low paid positions seeking better paid, more secure work; those working in the construction sector; and, groups that experience persistent rates of above-average unemployment.
The proposal will also provide work and opportunities to support sectors and business, in the form of local business rates to Chorley Borough contributing nearly £400m of economic value to the local economy.
A public consultation has now been launched to gain feedback on the proposals. To have your say, please read more about the proposals and provide your comments.
