Employment Land Availability

4.5 Strategic employment allocations and general employment sites in the 1998 adopted Local Plan provide 143 hectares of available employment land as at 1 April 2004. Since consistent employment land availability records began in 1994 the average take-up rate of employment land in the borough has been 3.7 hectares a year. Nearly half of the borough’s available employment land is in the rural areas, including 53 hectares at the Shepherd’s Grove General Employment Area. This compares with 22 and 46 hectares in Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill respectively.

4.6 The available employment land (143 hectares) represents 39 years worth of employment land supply, based on past take-up rates. However, the local planning authority considers that additional land, above that identified by past employment take-up rates is necessary for a number of reasons.

4.7 Firstly, in calculating the availability of employment land this not only takes account of undeveloped land within employment allocations but also includes allocated land that has a valid planning permission. Of the 143 hectares available, over half (88.75 hectares) is actually already committed. There is therefore an issue of whether some areas of employment land in the borough are genuinely available. Additionally, rural sites such as Shepherd’s Grove are capable of accommodating one or two large-scale individual projects that could reduce significantly the amount of employment land available in the borough.

4.8 Secondly, the average annual take-up rate since 1994 obscures the fact that recent take-up rates in Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill are increasing. St Edmundsbury is located in an area of particular economic growth and its direct relationship to the Cambridge sub-region means that it is important that the Replacement Local Plan provides sites which can better attract research and technology based industries as well as sites for the support industries needed to maintain the growing economy of the Cambridge Sub- Region.

4.9 Thirdly, the 2001 census indicated significant levels of commuting to areas outside the borough. This plan seeks to redress this balance through sustainable growth by enhancing the borough’s role as an employment centre and to achieve a closer balance between the number of jobs and inhabitants in the borough.

4.10 In allocating employment land over the period to 2016 and beyond, it is important to ensure that regional and county development strategies are implemented. Therefore, the Borough Council will ensure that there is an ample supply of land and premises in appropriate locations to the meet the needs of a variety of businesses, including:

• existing companies within the borough;
• small businesses and start-ups;
• inward investors;
• high technology industries; and
• those industries not appropriate for established employment sites.

4.11 As the priority is to find brownfield land for 40% of the borough’s housing requirement, it is anticipated that some inappropriately located employment sites could be redeveloped for housing. However, the priority to redevelop brownfield sites has to be balanced against the need to keep a diverse range of employment sites and premises within the borough.