19 January 2021 Mr Brian Sims Planning Inspector c/o Ms Elizabeth Humphrey The Planning Inspectorate Temple Quay House 2 The Square Bristol BS1 6PN Dear Mr Sims, HAYOCK POINT APPEAL, ST HELENS REF. APP/H4315/W/20/3256871 I am writing as Chief Executive of the Peel Group of companies, to confirm the role of the different companies involved in the Haydock Point project that carry the Peel name, and to outline our approach to the Haydock Point scheme. Company roles The Peel Group is an entity with a number of listed and unlisted investments across the real estate and infrastructure sectors, and is one of the country’s largest such private investors with collective investments owned and under management of over £5 billion. The Peel Group is the parent company to Peel L&P and also has major shareholdings in Peel Ports Group, PLP (Peel Logistics Property) and Harworth Group, amongst others. Our key investment sectors are real estate, transport and logistics, low-carbon energy and infrastructure. Peel L&P is the core direct land and property operating business wholly owned by Peel Group. It has a diverse land portfolio including sites for strategic development such as the Haydock Point site which the company has held for over 30 years. Peel L&P is the applicant, landowner and promoter of the Haydock Point scheme. PLP (Peel Logistics Property) is the specialist “big box” logistics developer owned by Peel Group, Ivanhoe Cambridge, MIRA Real Estate and the PLP senior management team. PLP has a very strong UK wide track record in delivering, owning and managing large scale developments such as Haydock Point. It is currently on site constructing over 2.5m sq ft of new industrial and logistics developments including speculative units totalling 300,000 sq ft in Wakefield, West Yorkshire and 225,000 sq ft in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. Key recent developments include 345,000 sq ft at Smithywood in Sheffield, 180,000 sq ft at Bessemer Park in Sheffield and 110,000 sq ft in Crewe to add to an existing portfolio of prime leased buildings totalling over 500,000 sq ft at Port Salford in Greater Manchester and at Liverpool International Business Park. PLP was created by Peel Group in 2015 in response to the strong performance of the logistics market, the opportunities in the Peel L&P portfolio for logistics and the wider potential for growth in the sector. Peel Ports Group (PPG) is the owner and operator of the Port of Liverpool and other major UK ports. Peel Group is a major shareholder in PPG and I understand a letter will shortly be issued by them relating to the wider factors driving demand for port-centric logistics and the potential for Haydock Point to have a port-centric role, which I will not repeat in this letter. Peel Group Management Limited t: 0161 629 8205 Venus Building w: www.peel.co.uk 1 Old Park Lane TRAFFORDCITY A member of the Peel Holdings (Management) group Manchester Registered Office: Venus Building, 1 Old Park Lane, TRAFFORDCITY, Manchester M41 7HA M41 7HA Registered Number: 05769047 England & Wales Business ethos and approach The Peel Group and the businesses in which it invests have grown over the past 50 years through an ethos of recycling capital and long-term investment, gaining a reputation for visionary infrastructure and regeneration projects, in particular in North West England. The Group has a strong track record of identifying and investing in new economic activities and innovations, out of which we create sustainable development and successful assets. We seek to be at the forefront of the market through the range and diversity of our interests and by utilising the synergies between our different business interests. An example of this in practice is the acquisition by the Peel Group of a majority shareholding in Mersey Docks and Harbour Company in 2005, at the time a severely underperforming business which controlled a vast area of Liverpool’s docklands, much of which was vacant or under-used. Under Peel’s stewardship the business was transformed and became Peel Ports Group, creating the £400m Liverpool2 container terminal investment, increasing the use of the Port of Liverpool and raising its profile and contribution to the economy. Historic areas of the port are also being transformed into major regeneration projects at Liverpool and Wirral Waters. A further example is the transformation of Manchester Docks into Salford Quays and latterly MediaCityUK alongside Salford City Council and the BBC. The Peel Group’s “Ocean Gateway” initiative brings together an overall vision for £50 billion of investment across 50 major projects over 50 years located between the two regional powerhouses of the north west, Liverpool and Manchester, and spanning a number of development sectors. Ocean Gateway is about achieving social, economic and environmental objectives through investing in sustainable and low carbon development, and by working with our partners how we can help address some of the deep-rooted challenges facing the areas between Liverpool and Manchester in which we operate. The ten-year review of Ocean Gateway in 2019 found that over £5 billion of private investment had been invested, creating 21,000 jobs. We task all the companies in which we are invested to follow best practice approaches to sustainability, environmental and social governance (ESG) and in our approach to partnerships with a wide range of local and national partners in the private, public and third sectors. Our five- year sustainability plan seeks to implement the UN Sustainable Development goals and aims to reduce carbon emissions across the portfolio. As examples, MediaCityUK was the world’s first development to be awarded BREEAM Sustainable Community status, whilst last year Peel L&P achieved net-zero carbon status across 11 major office projects. Approach to Haydock Point The Haydock Point project is an important part of the Ocean Gateway initiative and a key opportunity to deliver private investment in an area of the region with major socio-economic challenges. The site is ideally placed to meet the need for large scale logistics and is a viable development that does not require public funding. The project is within the business plans of both Peel L&P and PLP and if planning permission is granted, a high quality scheme will be delivered at pace and in conformity with all requirements. It is important to highlight that whilst we presently find ourselves with an appeal against non- determination, for reasons beyond our control, the scheme before you has been progressed with the support of the Council. The decision to appeal was only made as a consequence of the call-in of similar schemes, with the Haydock application having otherwise been anticipated to progress towards approval in late 2020. The planning application was originally invited by the Council in late 2016 and I am aware that our expert teams have worked diligently and patiently through 2017- 2020 to address the complex highways issues. This work has ensured the proposals meet all Peel Group Management Limited t: 0161 629 8205 Venus Building w: www.peel.co.uk 1 Old Park Lane TRAFFORDCITY A member of the Peel Holdings (Management) group Manchester Registered Office: Venus Building, 1 Old Park Lane, TRAFFORDCITY, Manchester M41 7HA M41 7HA Registered Number: 05769047 England & Wales technical requirements of transport bodies and indeed is anticipated to create significant public benefits, through private investment, by delivering a first major phase of an improvement scheme to Junction 23 of the M6. We had anticipated the continued support of St Helens Council so were surprised and disappointed with the Committee outcome in November 2020 against officer recommendation. We have nonetheless sought to respond positively and quickly by making changes to the landscape structure of the scheme to reduce its impact. If planning permission is granted, it would be our intention for the aforementioned Peel companies and their respective skills and resources to ensure the Haydock Point proposals are delivered to the highest quality, responsibly and with the maximum benefit for the local economy. The core roles of Peel L&P as landowner/facilitator alongside PLP as specialist logistics developer and asset manager give the project a clear and certain route for delivery. With the current strength of the market, occupiers will be secured promptly following the grant of outline permission, however PLP has also indicated a willingness and funding capacity to speculatively construct a first phase of the scheme. These roles would potentially be complemented by the opportunity to integrate the site with the Port of Liverpool and its port-centric users, customers and their supply chains. However we equally recognise that the site is also able to respond to wider market need, with the ability to host a building approaching 1 million sq ft that could attract a HQ style retail logistics distribution facility that acts as a national hub linked to multiple transport networks. The Haydock Point scheme is aligned with central and local government policies which have identified the need for and benefits of the logistics sector as a key enabler in developing a wider industrial strategy, whilst the proposals would very much support the Government’s levelling up agenda. They would deliver much needed investment in an area of socio-economic disadvantage, meet a clear market need and deliver major public benefit, achieving all of this without reliance on public funding. Lastly, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought into sharp focus society’s reliance on the logistics sector and supply chains. As we collectively look ahead to recovery from the pandemic, Haydock Point clearly represents a hugely important opportunity for investment, job creation and re-skilling for the local area.