Policy E1 Meeting Employment Land Needs

The reference to 22,000m2 of employment at West of Chichester should also be expressed ideally as a land area (6Ha to be consistent with the allocation policy A6) or otherwise be expressed as an approximate quantum as detailed design and marketing considerations may mean a different quantum of employment floor space can actually be delivered.

We have no in principle comment on the continued allocation of employment space at the West of Chichester SDL but the policy and supporting text should recognize the ever-evolving nature of the employment market and provide sufficient flexibility within the policy to allow for alternative uses to come forward should marketing of employment space generate no viable market interest. The reference to 22,000m2 of employment at West of Chichester should also be expressed ideally as a land area (6Ha to be consistent with the allocation policy A6) or otherwise be expressed as an approximate quantum as detailed design and marketing considerations may mean a different quantum of employment floor space can actually be delivered.

Wates considers that the LP, in its current form, is unsound because it is not; positively prepared, justified, effective or consistent with national policy.

In addition, we have concerns about the way in which the Council have approached the DTC, specifically with respect to employment land issues.

Wates request that the Council review their evidence base and ensure it is updated to deal specifically with the needs of the logistics sector.

The Council’s own evidence base points to an extreme undersupply of industrial floorspace. Wates believes that the Council should be looking at employment land in a more positive and proactive way and that more employment land needs to be allocated in order to ensure the LP is sound and the associated economic benefits associated with this can be realised.

Land at Badger Farm should be allocated for commercial development as it is an unconstrained site with good links to the Strategic Road Network and which can be delivered in a short timescale, contrary to the majority of the sites the Council are currently relying on to meet their employment needs.

Introduction and Site Details

Established is 1897, the Wates Group is one of the leading privately-owned construction, residential development, and property services businesses in the UK.

Everything we do is guided by our purpose of working together to inspire better ways of creating the places, communities, and businesses of tomorrow. Now in its fourth generation of family ownership, the Wates Group is committed to the long-term sustainability of the built environment.

Wates is promoting land at Badgers Farm, Hunston for commercial development. The site itself is currently used for equestrian purposes and extends to approximately 9 acres and is located at the northern end of the village, with good links to the A27. A site location plan is enclosed within these representations [TO BE EMAILED SEPERATELY]

The site is located within close proximity to Chichester and is easily accessible by foot, bicycle and public transport.
There are no constraints in bringing forward the site for development and Wates consider that the site should be allocated for commercial development in the Chichester Local Plan 2021-2039.

Duty to Co-operate

Whilst we note the Council have held ongoing discussions with key stakeholders and neighbouring Local Planning Authorities, it is noted that substantial reliance on demonstrating that the Duty to Cooperate (DTC) has been met appears reliant on several Statements of Common Ground (SOCGs) which are yet to be agreed and details are thin on the ground.

We do not wish to raise issues with the legal compliance with respect to the DTC, the lack of agreed outcomes as part of this process does cause issues with respect to the Local Plan (LP) being effective and positively prepared.

Employment is a key driver for the success of any Local Plan and yet, other than being part of a sub-Regional partnership, there is virtually no mention of this issue in the Council’s DTC Statement. Where employment issues are mentioned, the meetings referred to with neighbouring authorities took place some time ago and these can’t purport to reflect the most up to date position.

No doubt the Council will argue that SOCGs will be signed in due course (which will provide more detail) and will be before a Local Plan Inspector for their consideration. It is our view that, in order for the LP to be effective, this information should be available at this Regulation 19 stage.

Positively Prepared

The LP cannot be said to be positively prepared because it will not meet the Council’s identified housing needs. This has knock on implications for the consideration of the employment floorspace need over the plan period, because there is a direct relationship between the number of new homes being provided and associated growth scenarios which are being considered in relation to understanding future employment floorspace needs.

The LP is also reliant on the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) agreeing to meet 15% of the Council’s employment needs (paragraph 12.64 of HEDNA, April 2022). In our view, given the Statutory Duties the SDNPA are under, this is an entirely unrealistic assumption to make. There is no mention of this issue in relation to the DTC Statement the Council have produced, which suggests no formal agreement is in place between the two Authorities.

Justified

We consider that the Council is taking an unduly pessimistic approach to future employment growth and the associated economic benefits this can bring to the District. In particular, the Council seem heavily reliant on the April 2022 update to the HEDNA. The data associated with this document naturally takes into account the economic impacts of Covid.

In our view, reliance on this data is not appropriate, given it was clearly a unique event with significant global impacts. It should not be relied upon for a LP which looks forward for a substantial period of time, because it downplays the need for employment floorspace.
We consider it more appropriate for reliance to be placed upon the 2020 HEDNA, which identified a need for 25.6 hectares of employment land, rather than the 23 hectares identified in the 2022 HEDNA update.

It is noted that, in January 2019, the Council identified a need for 27.7ha of employment land (Background Paper: Economic Development and Employment).

In addition, 15% should be added to these figures discussed above to ensure the Council are not reliant on SDNPA to deliver their employment needs.

Effective

As discussed above, we do not believe that effective joint cross-boundary working has taken place.

The Local Plan, as it currently stands, will not be effective in delivering the employment needs of the District.

Given that the 2022 HEDNA update repeatedly identifies that there is an ‘extreme undersupply’ (paragraphs 80, 83, 10.67, 10.74), with paragraph 10.110 noting that this is due to both strong recent demand and low levels of delivery - delivering the employment needs for the District should be of paramount importance to the Council.

Furthermore, we do not believe that the employment sites identified in the LP will necessarily be deliverable; specifically, the proposed new allocation A20. The Council acknowledge that there are deliverability issues because the site is anticipated to come forward in the latter part of the LP period.

This because the northern end of the site will play a key role in delivering any improvements to the Strategic Road Network (SRN) which are needed in the future. It is not clear to what extent this site is reliant on any improvements in the SRN in order to come forward.

Upgrades to the SRN in and around Chichester have a long and troubled history, to the extent that previously a local consensus could not be achieved which resulted in a funding package on offer to help facilitate the necessary improvements being withdrawn.
It is our view that in the absence of the necessary certainty in this regard, site A20 should not be identified for development.

Compliance with National Policy

Both the LP and its associated evidence base are completely silent on the logistics industry, contrary to National Planning Guidance.
Paragraph 031 (Reference ID: 2a-031-20190722) of the Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) specifically identifies that “The logistics industry plays a critical role in enabling an efficient, sustainable and effective supply of goods for consumers and businesses, as well as contributing to local employment opportunities, and has distinct locational requirements that need to be considered in formulating planning policies (separately from those relating to general industrial land).”

The PPG expects active engagement with logistics developers and occupiers to understand their needs, alongside analysis of market signals and economic data. This should then inform the needs with respect to the logistics industry and LPAs should then go on to identify how this need can be met.

In April 2022 the ONS published a report entitled “The rise of the UK warehouse and the golden logistics triangle” which identifies that the number of premises used for B8 storage and distribution uses has almost doubled in the last decade, with this rise accelerating in the last two years due to Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The chart below [TO BE EMAILED SEPERATELY] shows “Transport and Storage” to be the fastest growing industry group (both recent and long term) nationally, with an 88% increase from 2011-2021 and a 21% increase from 2019-2021.

This is supported by the June 2022 report by Frontier Economics “The Impact of Logistics Sites in the UK” which highlights in Chapter 2 that logistics has been the fastest growing sector across the UK in terms of jobs since 2012 (Table 3 p.27).

The Council’s reliance solely on employment projections fundamentally underestimates the performance of the logistics sector, and using those as the only base for determining land requirements, will always lead to a misunderstanding of sector needs and therefore land allocations that will not fully address needs.

The importance of the horticultural industry should be recognised within policy E1 to inform the provision of land for functionally-linked employment uses in the right locations.

The centrality of the horticultural industry to providing sustainable economic growth within the Chichester District and the wider south of England is not acknowledged within Policy E1. This is contrary to the Council’s evidence base, with the 2020 HEDNA stating that the Local Plan will need to ensure that ‘the District’s horticultural industry remains nationally and internationally competitive’ for the duration of the Local Plan period.

The lack of connectivity between the provision of employment land under Policy E1 and the needs of the horticulture industry for well-located land for functionally-linked employment purposes will have the effect of suppressing the ability of the horticulture industry to meet its potential.

Drayton Investments Limited strongly implore Chichester Planning Policy team to reconsider proposed Local Plan employment floorspace provision and allocate more, smaller, sites which, such as Land North of Drayton Waterside, can achieve immediate delivery of employment market floorspace demand.

These representations are specifically centred around Chapter 7: Employment and Economy – ‘Meeting Business and Employment Needs’ with particular focus on Policy E1, Map 10.10 and reliance on Chapter 10 Policy A20 (Land to the South of Bognor Road).

These representations are made in the light of a live planning application (22/02202/FUL) for Land North Of Drayton Waterside. The proposed development consists of the erection of employment space [flexible Class B2 (general industry), B8 (storage / distribution), Trade Counter, E(d) (indoor sport / recreation) and Class E(g) (office, research and development, light industry) uses], with associated parking and landscaping. The employment space is provided over 33 units totalling 5,706 sq. m.

These representations will also look in detail at the Countryside policy and compare the proposed single new site (Land to the South of Bognor Road) with a site which is currently subject to a pending planning application (22/02202/FUL) for land which is geographically comparable with the proposed single site only without the implementation issues listed in the proposed Local Plan, as well as being deliverable, achievable and focused on the market requirements for smaller units.

These representations bring into question the ‘tests of soundness’. In particular, the question as to whether it is ‘sound’ on the basis of being ‘positively prepared’, ‘justified’ and ‘effective’ in respect to employment land provision.

These representations seek to highlight that Chapter 7 has not been positively prepared, in so far as it does not provide [1.] “a strategy which, as a minimum, seeks to meet the area’s objectively assessed needs” see the details set out in the accompanying Flude Property Consultants Report together with the details set out below.

It is also considered that Chapter 7 is not justified as the employment strategy is [2.] is inappropriate as it relies on a single new site, with multiple issues some of which are in conflict with other parts of the local plan, plus the site does not appear to have been included in the previous Local Plan consultations.

Chapter 7 is also not justified with respect to its provisions do not [3.] take into account reasonable alternatives. And that the provision for a single site not previously seen in any Regulation 18 consultation, is not [4.] based on proportionate evidence.

With respect to whether Chapter 7 is effective is questionable in terms of soundness given that the proposed allocation highlights a number of issues with the site set out in more detail below.

It is considered on the basis of the other factors highlighted in these representations and the accompanying Flude Report that the proposed employment land provision is not ‘Consistent with national policy’ as the proposed provision does not enable the delivery of sustainable development. It is considered that the proposed plans are contrary to the NPPF paragraph 16a, 16b, 16c, 16d and paragraph 20a.

With respect of general employment allocations and provisions in Chichester there are a number of areas of concern raised below and in the accompanying Flude Property Consultants Report which looks in detail at the Chichester property market.
It is also relevant to note that the Flude Report (dated July 2022) not only assesses the supply and demand in the local market for employment land, it objectively assesses the most recent evidence set out by the Local Planning Authority within the April 2022 Chichester Housing and Economic Development Needs Assessment (HEDNA).
Both the HEDNA and Flude Report independently advise that there is a lack of suitable employment space supply in Chichester, particularly for starter units between 750 and 2000 sq. ft.
The Policy E1 table sets out a number of floorspace calculations. None of which are identified by their Use Class.
Land West of Chichester
This site is a reallocation of the current Local Plan Policy 15. The new policy is Policy A6. The original allocation was adopted in 2015 and this therefore raises concerns in respect of deliverability of the proposed employment floorspace.
Notwithstanding the concerns around deliverability, the uses identified in the ‘submission local plan’ Policy A6 states: “6 hectares of employment land (suitable for E(g)(i)/(ii) Business uses)” and therefore none of the suggested 22,000m2 allocation equates to light industrial, general industrial or storage and distribution (i.e. it does not include E(g)(iii), B2 or B8) and therefore does not meet any need for industrial or storage and distribution.


Kingsham Road - DPD Allocation
This site the current DPD allocation (Policy CC5). The allocation was adopted in 2019 and this therefore raises concerns in respect of deliverability of the proposed employment floorspace.
Kingsham Road is a DPD allocation for 7,200m2 is for office use, and therefore does not meet any need for industrial or storage and distribution.


Land South of Bognor Road
The Land South of Bognor Road, the single proposed new allocation, not previously set out in the previous Local Plan consultations is looked at in greater detail in the following section of these representations.


Planning Permissions to Date
Chichester Council Planning Policy team have kindly provided a copy of the employment planning permissions to date which make up the 53,655 figure within the employment floorspace Policy E1. From a review of these sites it is apparent that a large number are for specific end users (e.g. Rolls Royce) or for change of use and not for the open market which will not meet the employment floorspace demand locally, particularly for starter units for SME’s.


Summary
In summary, Policy E1 is heavily reliant on adding up floor spaces which either may not occur or are not for an employment use which meets the needs for industrial use or storage and distribution use needs.

There are several fundamental issues with the proposed site allocation known as Land to South of Bognor Road (Policy A20), these include:
- The site is new to the Local Plan production process in respect of entering in at Regulation 19 and has therefore not been through any of the previous rounds of consultation.
- The he land is Grade 1 agricultural land which is (a) in active use, (b) forms part of wider farmland which is proposed to be separated from the farm buildings therefore potentially limiting the effectiveness of the remainder of the farmland, (c) it conflicts with other parts of the local plan which promote protection of the best agricultural land and food production. (details below)
- There are several site constraints to delivery to the allocation (details below).
- The Policy also seeks to provide plots for Gypsy and Travelling Showpeople the allocations do not require to be part of the same site however they have been placed under the same site policy which implies that the provision for both types of use are in short supply and that the way in which the Local Plan has been produced seeks to address the Gypsy and Traveller sites shortfall on the same allocation as part of the solitary site for employment.
- The size of the site in terms with respect to Natural England’s Guide to assessing development proposals on agricultural land (2021).

The Land South of Bognor Road site is both grade 1 agricultural land (the best value) and in active food production. Development on this site would raise conflict with other Local Plan approaches and policies as follows.
The proposed Local Plan at Paragraph 4.8 states that: The council will seek to protect the best and most versatile agricultural land from large scale, inappropriate or unsustainable non-agricultural development proposals that are not in accordance with the Development Plan. For proposals not in accordance with the Development Plan, that will result in the loss or likely cumulative loss of 20 hectares or more of best and most versatile agricultural land, the council will consult with Natural England and have regard to “Natural England’s Guide to assessing development proposals on agricultural land (2021)” and any subsequent guidance.

It is noteworthy to mention that the site is 19.5ha and, as with neighbouring land, is owned by West Sussex County Council (WSCC). The outline of the site allocation is odd and appears to sever the remainder of the WSCC land to the south from the WSCC owned land. This both impacts the opportunity to farm the remaining land and raises the question of whether there is an approach to avoid Natural England’s 20ha threshold and therefore is the current site area a salami slice of an extended future land promotion.

Land south of Bognor Road - Policy A20 – Site Constraints impacting Delivery


Flood Risk
Policy A20 supporting text paragraph 10.87 outlines that parts of the site are at risk of surface and ground water flooding which would need careful management.
Landscape Impact
The large scale of the site will create a landscape impact that could be considered harmful to the current landscape character and separation between the main conurbation of Chichester and the built form around the Bognor Road/Drayton Lane roundabout. This is further discussed in the Countryside policy assessment below.
Highways
To facilitate development of Policy A20 the supporting text paragraph 10.87 identifies the need for realignment of Vinnetrow Road and works to the Bognor Road roundabout as part of a package of A27 improvements. It is understood that Highways England have pulled funding for these improvements and that they are to be delivered through a tariff on strategic sites. Therefore, the delivery of this site is reliant on the delivery of other strategic sites and raises concerns around timescales and deliverability.

A planning application (22/02202/FUL) for the construction of business park with associated parking and landscaping is currently pending determination for land north of Drayton Waterside A259 Eastbound Merston Oving. The application is pending further highway research but is supported by no objections from all other consultees including support from the economic development officer and the Oving Parish Council.

The Economic Development Officer comment on the Planning Application is as follows:
‘The application site sits directly adjacent to a current business site and will provide units of the size and use class type that are highly sought after in the district. B2 and B8 uses are especially sought after and the amount of available space in this area has dropped from 316,000 sqft in 2017 to 97,500 sqft n 2022 (Source: SHW Industrial Focus 2022) which is a drop of almost 70% in five years.’
Both the HEDNA (April 2022) and Flude Report (July 2022) independently advise that there is a lack of suitable employment space supply in Chichester, particularly for starter units between 750 and 2000 sqft. The proposed development at Drayton Waterside provides this type of employment space and given the current planning application status could provide this floorspace immediately.
In the Housing and Employment Land Availability Assessment (HELAA) 2021, Drayton Waterside and the proposed allocation, Land to the South of Bognor Road, are both considered ‘developable’ but it is noteworthy to mention that Drayton Waterside (HELAA ID HOV00011) is considered to be able to come forward sooner than the land South of Bognor Road (HELAA ID HNM0017a).

Development in the Countryside Policy (Policy NE10)

Following review of the Drayton Waterside site above a key consideration is its location within the countryside – draft Local Plan Policy NE10. These representations do not directly object to this policy or its wording but some text is included to comment on how the Drayton Waterside site is better aligned with the countryside policy than the proposed land south of Bognor Road allocation (Policy A20).
The first consideration is paragraph 4.51 within the supporting text to Policy NE10 which outlines the role and value of the countryside and why it should be considered for protection subject to a planning balance. These points of consideration are as follows:
1. The countryside is important for food production.
• The land south of Bognor Road is currently farmed and is large enough to support food production. The land south of Bognor Road is also Grade 1 agricultural land.
• The Drayton Waterside site however is too small to support viable food production and is enclosed by uses which are not within agricultural use and as such could not form part of an adjacent agricultural use unlike the Policy A20 site.

2. Countryside is important for landscape character.
• Both sites are not located in either the South Downs National Park or Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty which cover a large part of the Chichester district.
• The Drayton Waterside site sits adjacent to existing built form currently used for employment use and is partly a brownfield site. The site is also smaller than the Bognor Road South and whilst providing 5,706 sq m compared to the 28,000 sq m provided by the land south of
Bognor Road, it should be the Council’s priority to look for delivering employment on multiple smaller sites which combined have a lesser landscape impact than that of a single large site.
3. Countryside is important for recreation:
• This role for countryside in respect of both sites is not necessarily relevant but it is noteworthy to mention that the Drayton Waterside site is private land and therefore not open to the public.

4. Countryside is important for biodiversity.
• Whilst the policy requirement for the delivery of the land south of Bognor Road would include a biodiversity enhancement this is yet to be evidenced as no application has been submitted for this site.
• The Drayton Waterside site, by contrast, has a live planning application and a Biodiversity Net Gains Assessment has been undertaken, and demonstrates that proposed development would result in calculated net gain of +12.73% Habitat Units and net gain of +13.45% Hedgerow Units. The Drayton Waterside site therefore demonstrates a substantial increase in biodiversity.

5. Countryside is important for stopping an urbanizing impact.
• The large scale of the land south of Bognor Road would create a noticeable urbanizing impact and whilst it is closer to the main conurbation of Chichester it would remove the separation between the current built form around the roundabout with Drayton Lane and Bognor Road whereas the Drayton Waterside site would neatly fit in within that existing built form and not diminish the gap between Chichester and this existing built form.

The wording of Policy NE10 outlines that sustainable development in the countryside would be permitted if the following considerations were achieved:
• There are sustainable transport links.
• The scale and design is appropriate to the location and not harmful to the rural setting.
• The proposed development preserves and enhances key countryside landscape features and does not impact any designations (Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty or the South Downs National Park).
• The proposed development relates to an existing group of buildings.
• The proposed development does not prejudice countryside operations e.g., farming.

The Drayton Waterside site is considered to align with the requirements in this policy by:
• having strong sustainable transport links along the Bognor Road, to Chichester, including cycle routes and bus stops.
• The proposed development is of a scale where it would not harm the rural setting due to its relationship with an existing building group and being a relatively small site particularly when compared to the land south of Bognor Road.
• The proposed development is not considered to impact any designations or key features within the current countryside make up in this location and would not impact the current farming operations in the locality.

SUMMARY
The Chichester Draft Local Plan is considered to be unsound in the respect of employment land provision as it is heavily reliant on the sites which have strong valid delivery concerns. This includes:
• Existing permissions that are not likely to be forthcoming.
• Allocations carried over from previous Local Plan documents which have not been delivered since they were allocated in the Development Plan Document Site Allocation in 2019 or worse the previous Local Plan in 2015.
• One new large strategic site allocation (Land South of Bognor Road – Policy A20) that has significant site constraints including works to the A27 where funding has recently been withdrawn by National Highways / Secretary of State for Transport.
Employment land provision should be achieved through the allocation of more, smaller, sites to improve the chances of delivery and to meet market demand which is immediate (as evidenced by the Housing and Economic Development Needs Assessment [April 2022] and the accompanying Flude Market Report [July 2022]).
The market demand set out be the Local Plan evidence base and the Flude Market Report highlights that, whilst there is an employment floorspace need generally, there is a specific need for starter units between 750 and 2000 sqft.
Application reference 22/02202/FUL for the Construction of Business Park with associated parking and landscaping at Land North Of Drayton Waterside A259 Eastbound Merston Oving is considered to be a perfect example of a site that could meet the current market demand for employment floorspace, providing starter units, and not result in a harmful impact to the countryside which Land to the South of Bognor Road (Policy allocation A20) would create due to the scale of the strategic allocation.
Drayton Investments Limited strongly implore Chichester Planning Policy team to reconsidered the proposed Local Plan employment floorspace provision and allocate more, smaller, sites which, such as Land North of Drayton Waterside, can achieve immediate delivery of employment market floorspace demand.

See attachment.