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Amazon confirm Exeter distribution centre

Wednesday, 31 July 2019 08:13

By Daniel Clark, Local Democracy Reporting Service

They've been linked to the Clyst Honiton site for months.

Amazon has been linked to the site in Clyst Honiton for months but they had previously refused to confirm they were the tenant for the warehouse,

Torbay Council had made a decision in private to go ahead with the £15m investment in the site last year, but they had also refused to comment, despite the council’s statement of accounts for the financial year ending in March confirming “forward purchase” of the distribution depot.

However, following a planning application to vary conditions of the previously consented warehouse on the site, which names Torbay Council as the landowner and Amazon as the applicant, the online giant have broken their silence and confirmed their plans to open in the Autumn and relocate from their existing Heron Road depot in Exeter.

A spokesman for Amazon said: “Amazon is to relocate its delivery station in Heron Road to a larger 100,000 sq foot purpose built facility in Exeter Gateway in later this year to meet increasing customer demand and expand the area it covers.

“Amazon Logistics is helping independent local delivery companies to grow their businesses and adds capacity and flexibility to Amazon’s delivery network to provide the fast and reliable delivery Amazon customers love and trust.

“Currently, six delivery companies provide services to Amazon in Exeter but this will increase over time to more than a dozen. As well as meeting increasing customers demand, the new delivery station will also deliver to customers in parts of Dorset and Somerset currently served by the Amazon’s delivery station in Bristol.

“At the same time, the number of drivers who collect parcels from the new delivery station and deliver them to Amazon customers in Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset will increase from more than 70 at the moment to more than 200.

“Permanent Amazon employees will increase at launch of the new site this autumn from more than 25 now to over 30.

“Amazon continues to invest in its transportation infrastructure and other innovative ways to expand its supply chain capacity and speed up deliveries for customers.”

Robert Viegers, Country Director of Amazon Logistics, added: “We are excited to open a new delivery station in Exeter where Amazon’s 20+ years of operational expertise, technology advancements and investment in transportation infrastructure is enabling faster delivery for customers than ever before seven days a week.”

Back in October 2018, East Devon District Council’s development management committee approved the details for a plot of land at Hayes Farm to be used for a storage and distribution building, and includes associated parking, servicing, yard areas, landscaping and engineering works.

The overall scheme could create between 1,530 and 1,817 new jobs and contribute an extra £90m to £105m to the regional economy, planners were told, when outline planning permission for the massive scheme was granted.

Indicative diagrams shown to the committee showed that there will eventually be 11 units on the site.

The new application asks East Devon District Council for permission to build two canopies over the service yards to the approved Amazon depot. The application has not yet been determined, but names Amazon as the applicant and Torbay Council as the landowner.

Torbay Council did not respond to request for comment on their ownership of the land.

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