Draft Regulation 18 Sandwell Local Plan
Community Facilities
15.75 The employment land policies contained in the SLP set out the types of employment uses that would be permitted in the areas / sites allocated as strategic or local employment land. These sites are safeguarded for
- light industrial employment uses (the research and development of products or processes or any industrial process that could be carried out in a residential area without causing detriment to the amenity of the area);
- general industry; and
- storage and warehousing.
15.76 Local employment sites are those areas where development is supported primarily for new or smaller-scale employment activity. In the past, local employment land in Sandwell has come under pressure from non-employment proposals, such as churches / mosques, banqueting suites and other community uses. This has caused problems in some cases as the new uses have been proposed on sites adjacent to uses occupied by general employment uses.
15.77 In addition, given the demand for employment land that exists in Sandwell, the Council would seek to retain as much existing employment land as possible to help meet the needs of existing and incoming employers. As a result, it will be necessary for any applicants who wish to reuse employment land and premises for alternative or non-employment uses to be able to demonstrate very clearly why the site or buildings are no longer needed for employment and what steps will be taken to minimise adverse impacts on adjacent uses.
15.78 Given the number of vacant units in town centres and the likelihood of vacancies in such areas increasing over time, the Council considers that most community facilities would be best located in town centres, where they will be accessible by different means of transport and where other facilities and services will be more readily available to support them.
Policy SDM9 - Community Facilities
- In considering proposals for new community facilities, examples of which include but are not limited to:
- banqueting suites and entertainment venues;
- places of worship and / or religious instruction;
- leisure and recreational activities;
- larger-scale non-employment uses e.g., nurseries, wholesale catering, animal day care;
- community centres;
or the conversion or extension of existing community facilities, the following criteria will be considered:
- Any proposal for a community facility or use that involves the loss of premises and sites identified as falling within either strategic or local employment areas[227] will be refused.
- Proposals for new community facilities on land or premises identified under Policy SEC4, which are either currently or formerly in employment use, will be resisted; applicants wishing to reuse such buildings or sites will need to meet the criteria set out in that policy and be able to demonstrate why the site is no longer suitable for employment use now or in the future.
- Encouragement will be given to locating community facilities and uses on sites with main road frontages at the fringes of commercial areas, and particularly in town, district or local centres.
- If the building(s) to be used shares a party wall with any sensitive use (particularly residential) it is unlikely that planning permission will be granted. Exceptions to this are likely to occur only when there is clear evidence submitted to the Council that the use will not adversely affect the occupiers of adjoining properties.
- Where noise from the proposed new activities is likely to affect neighbouring properties, consideration will be given to attaching conditions to any planning permission granted, which would reduce or eliminate such problems. These may include:
- installation and retention of suitable sound insulation;
- restricting the use of parts of the building, or the type of uses proposed;
- restricting the hours of use of all or parts of the building.
- Consideration will be given to the need for the provision of car parking in association with the development. This will include an assessment of:
- the proximity and availability of public transport facilities;
- whether most people walk to a place of worship or religious instruction;
- the use of the centre for wider community purposes and for special events drawing large numbers of participants;
- the availability of other car parking in the vicinity;
- the adverse effects of on-street parking on adjacent occupiers, the environment of the neighbourhood, and whether it would create potential hazards to pedestrians and other road users.
- Consideration may also be given to the granting of planning permission for a limited period where concerns relating to an application are insufficient to warrant refusal.
- The provision of additional community facilities will be encouraged, including those serving cultural and other social needs.
Justification
15.79 Having non-employment uses near heavy industry can cause problems for both sets of occupiers; the "agents of change" principle in the NPPF now requires the incoming user to ensure that their activities do not adversely impact on adjacent established uses. As an example, incoming industrial users on appropriate and allocated industrial sites adjacent to community or leisure activities would have to use additional resources to ensure their activities did not impact on places used for social events. This in turn could mean potential industrial and employment-generating uses avoiding such sites on viability grounds.
15.80 In some locations large-scale commercial entertainment and community activities may be appropriate, assuming the likelihood of sufficient parking being available, and events being held during evenings and weekends when areas of employment uses are likely to be less busy. However, these types of activities will generally be more properly located in town and local centres, with good accessibility by public transport; they should be subject to a robust sequential test if they are being proposed outside centres.
15.81 In addition, there are other larger-scale activities that are not classed as employment uses (although in some cases they may employ significant numbers of people), but which require large premises away from housing areas or other more sensitive uses. These might include wholesale catering, larger indoor recreational and leisure uses and dog day-care for example.
[227] Policies SEC2 and SEC3