Plans to expand Hitachi site in Hebburn, creating more than 30 jobs

South Tyneside Council’s planning department has received an application for unit four at Monkton Business Park North in the Hebburn South ward.

According to planning documents, the site was previously occupied by parcel delivery firm DPD.

New plans from Hitachi Construction Machinery (UK) Limited aim to change the use of the building and to use it for the storage and distribution of construction machinery.

A planning statement submitted with the application confirms Hitachi already operates from an adjacent building at Monkton Business Park North.

The main activities proposed for the new site include the “installation and calibration of GPS excavator control systems” on a range of “hydraulic excavators”.

This involves engineers disassembling and assembling component parts to allow the control systems to be retrofitted, as well as works to install other special attachments to “enhance” the machinery.

The facility will also be used as a “product training centre” delivering manufacturer training sessions to “ensure staff have the highest skill sets possible”.

A planning statement submitted on behalf of the applicant confirms the proposed warehouse would accommodate 30 new staff, growing to 40 staff in the medium term.

Around two thirds of the jobs would be linked to the warehouse and a third linked to office spaces, with warehouse employees being “highly skilled engineers”.

Elsewhere, training would be carried out by existing “long-established and highly skilled employees working on the site”.

The planning statement adds: “The proposed use comprises retention of 50% of the former warehouse use along with high value light industrial process that will provide significant new employment opportunities to the area of Hebburn and surrounding communities.

“The site is to be operated independently from the neighbouring owned site as it will be providing a different product to the existing operation.

“The proposed use is in accordance with the original proposed use of the land and the wider estate”.

A decision on the planning application is expected to be made once a period of council consultation has concluded.

For more information on the Hitachi application, visit South Tyneside Council’s planning department and search reference: ST/0919/22/FUL