Object

Representation ID: 6246

Received: 09/09/2021

Respondent: IM Land

Agent: Barton Willmore

Level of Employment Growth Required
Paragraph 81 of the NPPF sets out that:
“Planning policies and decisions should help create the conditions in which businesses can invest, expand and adapt. Significant weight should be placed on the need to support economic growth and productivity, taking into account both local business needs and wider opportunities for development. The approach taken should allow each area to build on its strengths, counter any weaknesses and address the challenges of the future. This is particularly important where Britain can be a global leader in driving innovation, and in areas with high levels of productivity, which should be able to capitalise on their performance and potential”.
The “Creating a vision of the Oxford-Cambridge Arc” consultation document (July 2021) recognises that the Oxford-Cambridge Arc is already home to a booming and varied economy that contributes to national prosperity, however, this centres around Oxford, Cambridge and Milton Keynes, and has not been spread evenly across these centres or in other towns and rural areas. To overcome this, the document sets out an ambition “to use the Spatial Framework to help tackle these problems. We want to make the most of the economic potential of the Arc by planning for sustainable growth and making the Arc an even more attractive place for all to live, work and do business”. They commit to developing an Economic Strategy, setting policies to make sure growth is felt by all communities and the Arc becomes a better place to live and work for all, setting policies which help local planning authorities to plan for new business and employment space, and setting policies to meet the needs of different sectors and businesses.
Paragraph 6.6 of the Strategy Options and Draft Policies consultation document sets out that “the Council have considered planned population growth up to 2040 and therefore consider that there is a requirement of 171 hectares of new employment land within this period. The Employment Land Study (June 2021) sets out that this is likely to be made up of 66 ha for office development (80 ha to 2045), 52 ha for industrial development (62 ha to 2045) and 53 ha for warehouse development (60 ha to 2045).
There is currently 48 hectares of available employment land within the Borough, which is split between four sites (A6 near Souldrop, Land west of B530, Bedford River Valley Park and Medbury Farm), varying in size from 1 to 31 hectares). This leaves a requirement of 123 hectares to be allocated in the BBLP 2050. 60 hectares of this is requirement for the remaining two business parks required to meet qualitative need (Medbury Farm is already allocated), leaving 63 hectares to be allocated up to 2040 (94 ha to 2045) for further general employment uses split between offices, industry and warehousing. It is concerning that 108 hectares of employment land, to be provided up to 2040, will be provided on only 6 sites within the Borough. The Council consider that the 63 hectares requirement to 2040 (94 ha to 2045) should be allocated in smaller sites which are more likely to be attractive for office and general industry purposes rather than large-scale warehousing. This responds to the need for high quality office and industrial units, however, does not provide flexibility over the plan period in terms of location and size of size that might be required in the longer term.
Paragraph 5.21 of the Employment Land Study states that “Bedford should take advantage of its good and improving accessibility to a wider market area to expand its attractiveness and influence. Growth should seek to maximise the strengths of the local economy and define a unique role that builds on local skills and expertise to minimise future loss of labour and to continue to attract businesses in key sectors”. The Council need to ensure that their minimum requirement for employment land fully responds to this aspiration, as well as the aspirations of the Oxford-Cambridge Arc.
The Council are also undertaking further site selection work, which should select adequate sites to exceed the minimum requirement for employment land up to 2040, but also ensure that there is adequate land and choice in terms of location and size, to ensure that any change in requirement can be accommodated within the Borough, and to encourage businesses to stay and to newly locate within the Borough where possible. This is important if the Council wish to achieve their objectives relating to prosperity in the Borough.