Four Ashes' plans for the West Midlands Interchange at Cannock have now been formally submitted to planners.

The application comes as supporting documents reveal a JLL/PBA study showing there is not a single site in the area of the West Midlands Combined Authority larger than 60 acres that meets the needs of a potential major employer.

The Planning Inspectorate's official paperwork shows that the site will see between 10 and 23 warehouse buildings with a gross internal floor area of 7.99M SF, and a further railfreight terminal area with between one and three buildings with a gross internal floor area of 3.4M SF.

The 713-acre site sits on either side of a branch of the West Coast Main Line, bounded by the A449 to the west and the A5 to the north where it meets the M6 at junction 12.

An intermodal freight terminal with direct connections to the West Coast Main Line, capable of accommodating up to 10 trains per day and trains of up to 775 metres long, including container storage, Heavy Goods Vehicle parking, rail control building and staff facilities.

The full planning and economic benefit statements can be found here.

In addition to Four Ashes, the 160-acre Peddimore site is among the attempts to resolve the West Midlands land crisis. It was announced in May that IM Properties had been selected as preferred developer.

The West Midlands Interchange will compete with half a dozen other major rail freight projects in the region. As the Four Ashes application was submitted, Goodman unveilled plans for a 430K SF development at Leicester Commercial Park. Larger rivals include the 5M SF Midlands Logistics Park, Corby, developed by Mulberry and Frogmore, Segro and Roxhill's 6M SF East Midlands Gateway at Kegworth, Roxhill's 5M SF Northampton Gateway and Ashfield Land's 8M SF Rail Central site at Bilsworth, Northamptonshire.