Draft Regulation 18 Sandwell Local Plan
Local Employment Areas
8.21 To achieve the appropriate balance of employment uses and successfully underpin the local economy, it is essential to make provision for those types of industrial, logistics and commercial activities that do not need to be situated in strategic employment areas and are not appropriate for town centres or residential locations. This Policy supports Strategic Objectives 2 and 8.
Policy SEC3 – Local Employment Areas
- Local Employment Areas are shown on the Policies Map. They are characterised by a critical mass of industrial, warehousing and service activity with good access to local markets and employees.
- These areas will provide for the needs of locally-based investment and will be safeguarded for the following uses;
- Industry and warehousing[146]
- Motor trade activities, including car showrooms and vehicle repair
- Haulage and transfer depots
- Trade, wholesale retailing and builders' merchants
- Scrap metal, timber and construction premises and yards
- Waste collection, transfer and recycling uses
- Not all areas will be suitable for all uses.
- Some ancillary employment-generating non-Class E(g)(ii), E(g)(iii)) and B uses such as childcare facilities and food and drink outlets may also be permitted in Local Employment Areas where they can:
- be shown to strongly support, maintain or enhance the business and employment function of the area; and
- meet sequential and other national or local policy tests (particularly Policies SCE5 and SCE6) relating to appropriate uses, as necessary.
Justification
8.22 Local Employment Areas (LEAs) are particularly prevalent in Sandwell and play an important role in the local economy. They offer a valuable source of mainly low-cost industrial units that are vital in providing local jobs and a balanced portfolio of sites of different sizes and quality, including for small or new businesses that do not require higher-quality or large-scale premises and land.
8.23 Policy SEC3 is based on the approach set out in the 2011 Black Country Core Strategy, which distinguished between Strategic High-Quality Employment Areas and Local Quality Employment Areas. The EDNA recommended that the approach set out in the Core Strategy has served the Sandwell well and, subject to some refinement, should be continued. The Local Employment Areas in the Sandwell Local Plan are the equivalent of the Local Quality Employment Areas in the Core Strategy.
8.24 The characteristics and extent of the Local Employment Areas reflects the findings of the SEAR. The SEAR re-examined all of Sandwell's employment areas against a set of criteria based on those in the Core Strategy and with regard to the recommendations of the EDNA.
8.25 The key characteristics of Local Employment Areas are as follows;
- a critical mass of active industrial and service uses and premises that are fit for purpose;
- good access to local markets, suppliers, and employees;
- the existing or potential use and / or the traffic generated by the use does not have an unacceptable impact on the amenity of surrounding land uses or on the highway network;
- good public transport accessibility.
8.26 The broad extent of the Local Employment Areas is shown on the Employment Land Key diagram and the detailed boundaries on the Sandwell Local Plan Policies Map.
8.27 The SLP seeks to safeguard Local Employment Areas as locations for industrial and logistics activity and uses that share the characteristics of Classes E(g)(ii), E(g)(iii)) and B2 and B8 uses, which are typically located within industrial areas.
8.28 The Plan also supports proposals that involve the improvement and renewal of land and premises within them, particularly where this involves older or outdated industrial premises that are no longer fit for purpose. This process of redevelopment, intensification and enhancement of existing Local Employment Areas will help deliver a significant source of land to meet future growth needs.
8.29 Local Employment Areas are often vulnerable to pressure for redevelopment to other uses such as housing. However, the loss of local employment land will compromise the successful delivery of Sandwell's employment strategy. It would inhibit economic development, endanger the viability of businesses and affect the balance of jobs and workers. People working for companies in Local Employment Areas that are displaced by new forms of development would have to travel increased distances to work and the viability and sustainability of those firms would be put at risk. These areas will therefore be primarily safeguarded from non-employment uses.
8.30 Sites within Local Employment Areas may also be appropriate for uses that serve the needs of businesses and employees working in the area. Such uses may include small-scale food and drink provision or childcare facilities. They should be of a scale, nature, and location to serve the needs of an employment area where existing facilities are inadequate or where such needs cannot be met in adjacent town centres.
[146] Classes E(g)(ii), E(g)(iii), B2 and B8 uses