Gravity Development Bridgwater

Building on the successful planning consent achieved in late 2017 for Huntspill Energy Park, the developer Salamanca Group, has moved into the project delivery stage. Their goal? To deliver a state-of-the-art campus providing more than 7,500 jobs across the creative digital, logistics, and distribution sectors. Work that also aligns with the government’s agenda around productivity and industrial strategy. 

However, the site lies in a rural location adjacent to existing villages with infrastructure that isn’t up to supporting the innovation campus—through construction or into operation. In response to this challenge, we designed a new link road and green bridge which will connect the site to the A39 and M5 Junction 23. This will provide a gateway to the innovation campus whilst providing a bypass of existing communities. This in turn will improve local accessibility and highway safety.

Working collaboratively with Salamanca Group, Sedgemoor District Council, and the highway authorities through the planning, design, and approvals processes, we’ve developed a technical solution that will unlock the site, and—in parallel—we made a successful case to secure growth deal funding from the Heart of the South West local enterprise partnership (HOTSW LEP) to support the scheme delivery.

In 2022, the Local Development Order (LDO) that we established for Gravity was adopted by Sedgemoor District Council, which will be at the heart of the UK's 4^th Industrial Revolution. The clean and inclusive growth strategy established 50 social and environmental positive measures in the design of the project.  This early definition of social and environmental success enabled the LDO to respond to Government’s 10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution.