A key commercial development next to the Javelin Park incinerator looks finally set to be filled.

New images have emerged showing what the £10million scheme, known as Gloucester 12, could look like when complete.

The brownfield site sits next to J12 of the M5 and is owned by Warwickshire firm Graftongate.

It plans to transform the 14.8 acres into a modern business park with four units for industrial and storage use, totaling 123,500 sq ft.

The units have yet to be built but are now on the market for sale to rent and have been attracting interest from across the country.

Dorian Wragg, commercial partner with Bruton Knowles, believes deals will soon be signed and said it is shows big businesses' growing attraction to Gloucester.

"We have had interest from manufacturing and warehousing businesses, both locally and further afield," he said.

"There is a noticeable interest in the M5 corridor and Gloucester, especially from high-tech industries that are looking for more skilled people.

"They are targeting Gloucestershire and Cheltenham is pretty much full so this location right on the junction of the M5 is very desirable."

Graftongate has spent more than 15 years working on plans for the land which is part of the huge former RAF Moreton Valence Airfield site.

It already built a 120,000 sq ft warehouse unit on the land and sold it to International Plywood.

Construction work on the remainder of the site finally started in March 2022  and the aim was to have the buildings complete by November 2022.

At the time Phil Silk, managing director of Graftongate, said: "We have decided to speculatively build these units given the strength of the market and having identified a lack of supply particularly of the sizes being built."

It appears the firm has done a u-turn as the land remains empty and the four units which range in size from 17,000 to 41,000 sq ft. are being marketed for sale with the option to buy the land, buy a design and build package or let a property once it is built.

A spokesperson for Graftongate said it did not provide comments to the media on construction projects.

Punchline says: "This is an important project which will create more jobs for people in Gloucestershire and continue the work to run this stretch of the M5 corridor into a hub for businesses."

HISTORY

It has been a long road to see the land brought back into use.

The site is located on the former RAF Moreton Valence Airfield opened in 1939 and in active use until 1962.

Graftongate first announced its intention to develop the site around 15 years ago, after selling 12 acres of land at Javelin Park to Gloucestershire County Council for the incinerator to be built.

A private estate road was built to help aid the construction of the Gloucestershire Energy from Waste incinerator which is run by UBB Waste (Gloucester) Holdings Limited on behalf of the county council. This week it was revealed Balfour Beatty had sold its shares in UBB.

Graftongate was granted permission in 2007 to build 45,151 sqm of warehouse and distribution space on the 15 acres site at Javelin Park. At the time it hoped businesses would be fully operational within the development by 2011.

In 2010 it applied and was granted permission to have its planning permission extended to 2013.

Warehouses on the site were demolished in 2020 and Graftongate announced building work had started on four new units which were scheduled for completion that November.

In December 2020 it was granted permission to build four units for industrial and storage use on the site.

In March 2023 an application was permitted to reduce the height of Unit 5, add canopies and alter the car park and yard layout.

On November 20, 2023 an application was permitted which confirmed details of the ecology, noise and travel plan monitoring.