What is the Employment Land Review?
The Northumberland Employment Land Review (ELR) assesses the
demand for, and supply of, land for employment use in
Northumberland. This involved an evaluation of the suitability of
individual sites, whether existing, permitted or proposed for
future employment uses. The Employment Land Review
identifies sites which are unlikely to be required by the
market or are deemed unsustainable for employment development. The
results of the Employment Land Review will ultimately be used to
develop a new portfolio of sites for Northumberland
through the Core Strategy process and other future
documents.
The Northumberland Employment Land Review can be viewed by
clicking on the links below:
The appendices to the main Northumberland Employment Land Review
document can be viewed by clicking here.
All the recommendations in the
Employment Land Review will be subject to further assessment
through the preparation of the Core Strategy.
Methodology
National planning policy in 'Planning Policy
Statement 4: Planning for Sustainable Economic Growth' specifies
that there needs to be a detailed assessment of the need for land
or floorspace for economic development and an evaluation of the
existing and future supply of land. Crucially it is stated that
"existing allocations should not be carried forward from one
version of the development plan to the next without evidence of the
need and reasonable prospect of their take-up during the plan
period". This dictates the need for an Employment Land Review to
inform the Northumberland Core Strategy and other
future Local Development Framework documents.
The Government published a guidance note for
Employment Land Reviews in 2004. This details a three stage,
fourteen step approach to undertaking a Employment Land
Review. The Government guidance note can be viewed by clicking on
the link below:
Long-term sectoral employment and land requirement
projections
To contribute to the Employment Land Review,
Northumberland County Council commissioned a separate study by
St Chad's College, Durham University to produce projections of
future labour supply/demand and gross value added for
Northumberland's economy, and the conversion of this into
quantitative land requirements per sector under four growth
scenarios. This study can be viewed by clicking on the link
below:
Employment Land Review Findings
The Employment Land Review identifies
employment land supply to be out of balance with current demand and
future need, in spite of the high amount of committed employment
land. The Employment Land Review presents 7 scenarios for the
amount of employment land needed up to 2030, ranging from 293 to
506 hectares, with a recommendation that between 293 and 317
hectares are actually sought.
The Employment Land Review also examines the
spatial distribution and identifies a disparity in the current land
portfolio across Northumberland, with south east Northumberland
containing most of the land (including most of Northumberland's
higher quality employment sites), West Northumberland having a
shortage of land with many constraints and North Northumberland
having an adequate supply but localised issues on quality and
deliverability.
To aid the above process, the study assessed
all sites in the current portfolio and recommended approaching 140
hectares should be de-allocated with new land to around half this
level to replace it and correct spatial imbalances. Also,
specifically, the release of additional land is recommended to
assist in seeking low carbon economic investment in the Blyth
Estuary area. In more rural areas, the study finds that specific
allocations are unnecessary with conversions of redundant rural
buildings and small scale developments being recommended
instead.
The Review identifies that the availability of
public sector funding in the future will be significantly reduced
and this will have an effect on the ability to upgrade and bring
forward new employment sites. Mixed use development schemes
are one possible solution identified.
All the recommendations in the
Employment Land Review will be subject to further assessment
through the preparation of the Core Strategy.
To view a copy of the Northumberland
Employment Land Review, please click on the link below:
The appendices to the main Northumberland Employment Land Review
document can be viewed by clicking here.
Employment Land Review Appendices
The appendices to the main Employment Land Review document can
be viewed by clicking on the relevent links below:
Contact for further information
For further information on the Northumberland
Employment Land Review, please contact:
Purchase a copy of the study
CD copies of this study and its appendices can
be purchased online at a cost of £1.55 (inclusive of postage
and packaging). Please click on the link below to order online. You
will then need to select 'Miscellaneous' from the list, then
select 'Planning - Local Development Framework Evidence
Studies' and then select the study from the drop down menu.
Links to related pages
