PEPPERMINT Junction, a road scheme representing the first stage of Peppermint Park – a 60,000 sq m food enterprise zone (FEZ) in Lincolnshire – has officially opened, celebrated at an event to showcase the opportunities available at the site on Friday (9 Feb). The scheme is being delivered by Perfect Circle – a consortium comprising Pick Everard, Gleeds and AECOM. The three innovative industry leading firms were appointed for the scheme via Scape Group’s National Built Environment Consultancy Services (BECS) framework, which provides the broadest range of consultancy services available to the public sector. The consortium has completed the master planning proposals which will transform this strategically important site – located adjacent to the A17 and A151 in Holbeach, Lincolnshire – into a residential and commercial space. The proposals also include the expansion of the University of Lincoln’s enterprise site. “We’re delighted to be involved in the emerging plans for Peppermint Park in South Lincolnshire – with Peppermint Park now making excellent progress, with the land being unlocked thanks to the completion of the £5 million roundabout and road project. We recognise that this is a really important scheme for the area and one we are very pleased to see making progress,” said David Shaw, associate at Pick Everard. “As well as creating commercial space and an estimated 2,000 jobs for the local area, plans include highways improvements and the provision of approximately 900 new homes for the south of the county. “Thanks to funding secured through the Great Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership’s (GLLEP) Growth Deal Programme, the FEZ is starting to become a reality,” continued David. The scheme will focus on work in the food technology sector, supporting the farming county’s £2.5 billion agri-food contribution to the economy. It’s a sector that’s continuing to grow and is an area seeing significant investment, earmarking it as an industry of great importance for the future. “With Greater Lincolnshire’s third largest sector being agri-food and food manufacturing this development will really make a huge difference to the county – and the UK’s food economy,” added David. Ursula Lidbetter MBE, Chair of the Greater Lincolnshire LEP, said: “Greater Lincolnshire is at the heart of the UK’s food sector and we’re a nationally important cluster for food and agricultural technology, innovating in robotics and automation of the food chain.  To support the sector our LEP is investing £6.8m to drive forward its three emerging Food Enterprise Zones. “A provisional allocation to the University of Lincoln of a further £2.4m will enable development of an Agri-Food Centre of Excellence at Peppermint Park later this year, building on the success of the National Centre for Food Manufacturing at Holbeach.” Victoria Brambini, managing director of Scape Procure, said: “It is great to see the development at Peppermint Park starting to take shape. Through the use of our unique framework, Greater Lincolnshire have been able to take advantage of the efficient engagement of the Perfect Circle team, starting the transformation of the area so as to achieve the huge community benefits as early as possible.”