Archived decisions

Hampshire County Council

Item 6

Cabinet

28 November 2005

South Hampshire: Amount and Broad Location of Employment Development

Replacement Appendix 3 to Cabinet Report

1. Background

1.1 The advice to the Assembly should include information on the amount, broad location and type of employment land required in the South Hampshire sub-region. `Employment' in this context refers to the provision of land for offices, manufacturing, warehousing, storage and distribution. There is no expectation that the advice should include retail, leisure and recreational uses (although these are being developed as part of the wider PUSH economic development strategy).

1.2 Planning and economic officers have held three workshops in the past six months to develop the advice required by the Assembly. A paper setting out the broad approach and assumptions was considered and supported by the Leaders at their last meeting.

1.3 The paper before you outlines the broad approach and headline figures that have emerged from the last workshop held in Havant on 17 November. Some details of the advice can only be finalised once the housing distribution has been agreed by PUSH as there is a close relationship between employment and housing land provision.

2. Employment land strategy

2.1 The proposed strategy is based on the "Town Centres First" scenario developed by DTZ. A recognition that this scenario represents a reversal of current trends means that, as with the overall economic strategy, the approach will see a phased increase in the provision of employment within the two cities and towns, with modest growth in the early years and significant growth in the latter part of the plan period.

2.2 It should also be recognised from the outset that this strategy is very ambitious and the level of new floorspace required within the cities and towns is considerably higher that that which has been achieved in recent years and is also more than current estimates indicate may be available. A number of key elements must therefore be put in place for the strategy to succeed. These are:

1) The strategy should be expanded to embrace whole of the cities, main towns and smaller district centres as a narrow focus on city and town centres is unlikely to offer the sufficient land to deliver the step change in floorspace provision. It is suggested that the approach should be re-named "City/Urban Areas First" to reflect the broader urban renaissance agenda adopted by PUSH.

2) The density of office development may have to increase in city and town centres (i.e. more floors) to provide more floorspace. This will be especially important in locations with high accessibility to public transport.

3) The cities and towns must become more attractive to the market. To this end PUSH will need to be pro-active in site assembly and marketing. It is likely to require substantial intervention, including the use of CPO's to bring sufficient sites forward.

4) Further consideration is required on the creation of a delivery vehicle to help focus efforts on this crucial part of the whole PUSH strategy. This might have a specific remit to work with SEEDA, landowners and developers to bring sites to the market and identify potential occupiers, possibly using a rolling funding programme to give the whole process momentum.

5) More co-operation will be required between PUSH authorities to encourage the relocation of low density, low employment uses from prime sites to enable their redevelopment for more appropriate uses.

6) Appropriate uses are likely to involve a degrees of mixed development (housing, retail and leisure together with offices) to improve the viability of schemes and create the mix to support sustainable communities.

7) A strong policy line supporting a sequential approach to the release of employment land (urban centres, other urban areas, new greenfield sites) will be required to encourage businesses towards urban areas and away from greenfield locations.

8) To support the "City/Urban Area First" approach PUSH officers are now proposing that employment land provision in the Strategic Development Areas and larger urban extensions be reduced to initially provide 50% rather than 100% of employment land necessary to match local labour supply. This will complement efforts within the towns and cities to provide alternative attractive sites and reduce the likelihood that the SDAs and urban extensions will be seen as more attractive locations for businesses.

9) The step change in the supply of office floorspace will require, in the early years, a concerted effort to deliver sites within the current list of commitments as neither the SDAs, urban extensions or new sites assembled in urban areas can be expected to come forward in the near future.

10) The South West area (centred on Southampton) and South East (centred on Portsmouth) are currently performing different roles in the South Hampshire economy. Southampton has an established office market which it is well placed to expand. Portsmouth currently does not. A high priority must be placed on developing Portsmouth and the other urban areas in the South East area as attractive office locations if the strategy as a whole is to succeed.

11) PUSH will need to refine its approach beyond the level of information required from the Assembly to address such issues as the phasing and sequence for the release of sites. This will be closely linked to the overall economic performance of the sub-region and the release of land for housing.

2.3 It is should also be noted that the distribution of employment land between the western and eastern parts of the sub-region using the methodology used by DTZ to calculate demand produces a higher floorspace requirement in the western area than the east. Conversely, the levels of housebuilding proposed show a reverse position with more dwellings proposed in the eastern area. This issue was considered in the officer employment land workshops. The general consensus reached was that simply transferring floorspace provision from west to east would not necessarily result in more development in the east, but would constrain opportunities in the west and potentially weaken the overall economic strategy.

2.4 The solution reached was to ensure that eastern area has the opportunity to strengthen its economic base further than anticipated using the DTZ methodology. To this end more land would be brought forward to meet any additional demand if it arose. The supply of floorspace potentially available in the eastern part of the sub-region already exceeds the minimum requirement (although further work is necessary to ascertain its suitability and attractiveness). It is proposed that the advice submitted to the Assembly should be based on the DTZ floorspace requirement, with PUSH considering further the package of sites coming forward to ensure that they both meet the needs of business and will deliver the PUSH vision for a step change in economic performance.

3. Proposed Policy

3.1 Appendix 1 sets out the proposed advice to the Assembly. It should be recognised that there is a considerable body of work that underpins the headline figures.

3.2 Appendix 2 highlights the major locations proposed for new employment floorspace, many of which are already allocated in local plans. Further work is still required on both the capacity and opportunities for development within the cities and also to provide greater clarity to aid Local Development Documents on the proposed distribution of office, manufacturing and warehouse floorspace across the sub-region. It is not proposed to submit Appendix 2 to the Assembly at this stage as the floorspace figures and proposed uses are indicative at this stage and require further assessment.

4. A Health Warning

4.1 The key issue that is not shown in the proposed policy is the level of positive intervention that PUSH and other agencies will have to undertake to ensure that sufficient quality land is brought on time to meet the needs of business and deliver the growth agenda. Simply allocating sufficient land will not achieve this. This issue is particularly acute for the first 5 - 10 years of the strategy and requires a concerted effort to bring to the market sites which are already identified for employment uses.

Annex 1

Employment land strategy for South Hampshire

1. Amount and type of land for employment

1.1 PUSH is planning to deliver 1,800,000 m² of floorspace 2006 - 2026 across South Hampshire. To ensure that this is achieved it will identify potential land for almost 2,000,000 m² of floorspace and use monitor and manage to ensure that sufficient floorspace is delivered in line with the wider economic strategy.

1.2 Allocations and monitoring and management of delivery will be based on two sub-areas. The South West area will be centred on Southampton and includes the whole of Eastleigh Borough and those parts of New Forest district and Test Valley Borough within urban South Hampshire. The South East area will be centred on Portsmouth and include the whole of Fareham, Gosport and Havant Borough, together with those parts of Winchester City and East Hampshire district within urban South Hampshire.

1.3 It should be noted that, with the exception of employment land associated with the Strategic Development Areas and larger urban extensions, there is currently only a small requirement for additional floorspace on greenfield sites for employment uses over an above those already identified in local plans. The current estimate is for around 25,000 m² in the South West area. This position may change if further work on the capacity and potential within the urban areas (particularly the city centres) reduces the assumed floorspace in these locations.

South West area:

B1 Offices - 680,000 m²

B2 Manufacturing - 93,000 m²

B8 Warehousing - 294,000 m²

This will be located as follows:-

· On previously developed land within the cities and towns, particularly their centres - 700,000 m²

· On greefield land in the Hedge End Strategic Development Area - 74,000 m²

· On greenfield land in the larger urban extensions and other greenfield sites with high accessibility allocated for that purpose in Local Development Documents - 293,000 m² (all but 25,000 m² of which is already identified in local plans).

South East area:

B1 Offices - 535,000 m²

B2 Manufacturing - 123,000 m²

B8 Warehousing - 240,000 m²

This will be located as follows:-

· On previously developed land within the cities and towns, particularly their centres - 480,000 m²

· On greenfield land in the Fareham Strategic Development Area - 121,000 m²

· On greenfield land in the larger urban extensions and other greenfield sites with high accessibility allocated for that purpose in Local Development Documents - 297,000 m²

Annex 2

The main locations (more than 15,000 m²) for new floorspace provision, together with indicative uses are as follows: (note the floorspace figures and proposed uses are still to be confirmed by district colleagues)

South West area:

South East area: