A key steel reinforcement supplier is “considering its next steps” after ministers declined to call in a decision to redevelop its only UK production site.
Steel giant ArcelorMittal, which claims to produce 30 per cent of the country’s steel reinforcement, told Construction News in May it would pull out of the UK market if plans to regenerate Chatham Docks in Kent went ahead.
However, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has decided not to call in the planning application, a government spokesperson told CN.
This leaves the fate of the scheme in the hands of the local authority, which resolved to grant approval in May and is set to formalise the decision next week.
In a statement, ArcelorMittal Kent Wire (AMKW) managing director Matt Brooks said the firm was “considering [its] next steps”.
He added: “We are extremely surprised by this view given the significance of the docks for the entire steel and construction sectors.”
ArcelorMittal division AMKW has produced reinforcement at Chatham Docks since 1988, supplying the UK’s biggest infrastructure projects, including HS2, Thames Tideway and Crossrail.
Developer Peel Waters is looking to develop part of the Chatham Docks industrial estate to create 31,000 square metres of adapatable workspace. The development, Basin3, aims to attract businesses from the creative, manufacturing, technology and life sciences sectors with new green spaces and waterfront promenades.
Peel Waters has said in planning documents that it is working to relocate existing tenants, but ArcelorMittal has argued the waterfront location is ideal for receiving raw materials from its parent company in Hamburg.
It has also objected to the potential cost of relocating, after the firm racked up a £7m bill moving its premises 500 metres down the road in 2015.
AMKW chief executive Phil Taylor previously told CN the firm had presented alternative proposals that created 100,000 square metres of industrial space on the site, which the council dismissed.
The steel firm would shed 800 jobs if the site closed, Taylor added.
In planning documents submitted in January, Peel Waters estimated its proposals would create a net uplift of 430 jobs, taking into account displacement of existing workers.
After Medway Council granted Basin3 planning permission in May, ArcelorMittal called on the new government to re-examine the project after the election. The plans were unable to progress during the election period, after the then-local MP Kelly Tolhurst requested that then-housing secretary Michael Gove intervene.
The council is expected to make a formal planning decision “early next week”, according to Peel Waters.
