Rural Employment Sites

15.8 The provision of further employment opportunities in the rural areas will be focused on the Rural Service Centres to help sustain balanced communities and reduce the need to travel. These could include small scale office schemes that primarily meet the needs of the settlement and the surrounding areas. There are already a number of well established General Employment Areas in the rural part of the borough and the continued use of these will be supported.

15.9 New sites are also allocated in appropriate Rural Service Centres to redress the balance between jobs and the working population. These new sites are at Barrow and Clare and are identified for B1 uses as part of a business park concept. The development of these sites is sensitive and therefore the Borough Council will only consider applications for planning permission once a development framework for the site has been agreed, including details of landscaping, access arrangement and site layout.

Policy RA3: GENERAL EMPLOYMENT AREAS - RURAL AREAS

The following areas are designated as General Employment Areas:

Within the General Employment Areas, the following land is available for development:

Proposals for B1, and B2 and B8 uses where appropriate, will be permitted within General Employment Areas providing that space requirements, parking, access and general environmental considerations can be met.

The following infrastructure is required to facilitate development:

• a) An access road to Shepherd's Grove Industrial Estate
• b) An access road to Chedburgh Industrial Estate
• c) The Bury St Edmunds Eastern Relief Road to access land at Rougham

The routes of the above road schemes are identified on the Proposals Map and will be safeguarded.

Note:
References to Classes B1, B2 and B8 are as defined in the Town & Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended).