Employment Land Position Statement

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out the Government's planning policies for England and how these are expected to be applied. The purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development which includes an economic role.

The NPPF requires that planning policies should be positive, promote competitive town centre environments and set out policies for the management and growth of centres over the plan period. In drawing up Local Plans, it requires local planning authorities to:

• Set out a clear economic vision and strategy for their area which positively and proactively encourages sustainable economic growth;
• Set criteria, or identify strategic sites, for local and inward investment to match the strategy and to meet anticipated needs over the plan period;
• Support existing business sectors, taking into account of whether they are expanding or contracting, and, where possible, identify and plan for new or emerging sectors likely to locate in their area. Policies should be flexible enough to accommodate needs not anticipated in the plan and to allow a rapid response to changes in economic circumstances;
• Plan positively for the location, promotion and expansion of clusters or networks of knowledge driven, creative or high technology industries;
• Identify priority areas for economic regeneration, infrastructure provision and environmental enhancement; and
• Facilitate flexible working practices such as the integration of residential and commercial uses the same unit.

It further requires Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) to ensure that the Local Plan is based on adequate, up-to-date and relevant evidence about the economic, social and environmental characteristics and prospects of the area. LPAs should ensure that their assessment of and strategies for housing, employment and other uses are integrated, and that they take full account of relevant market and economic signals. They are required to work with partners to prepare and maintain a robust evidence to understand both existing business needs and likely changes in the market.

Current Local Planning Policies

Central Lancashire Core Strategy

Core Strategy Policy 9 - Economic Growth and Employment sets out how much land across Central Lancashire has been allocated for new employment development, as well as identifying sites for Major Developments (Samlesbury, Cuerden and Buckshaw Village) and Mixed use developments (Moss Side Test Track and Lostock Hall).

Core Strategy Policy 10 - Employment Premises and Sites sets out which existing employment sites are to be retained for B use class employment use. The policy also sets out the criteria which need to be applied to any applications on employment sites.

South Ribble Site Allocations and Development Management Policies DPD (Local Plan)

Policies in the Local Plan relating to Employment uses are separated within 2 chapters.

Chapter C contains the policies on Major Sites for Development. Policies C4 and C5 relate to the Cuerden Strategic Site and BAE Systems, Samlesbury.

Chapter E relates to Delivering Economic Prosperity, and contains policies on both employment and retail development in the Borough. Policy E1 - Allocation of Employment Land, allocates sites across the Borough for new employment development, and policy E2 - Protection of Employment Areas and Sites, aims to protect the employment uses on existing sites in the Borough.

Main employment areas in the Borough

The Local Plan protects areas of existing employment in the Borough. There are 21 areas that are protected:

• Kellet Lane/Seed Lee Farm
• Sceptre Way
• Walton Summit
• Club Street
• South of School Lane
• Dunbia
• North of School Lane
• Aston Moss
• Leyland Business Park
• Lancashire Business Park
• Moss Side Employment Area
• Heaton Street/Talbot Road industrial Estate
• Braconash Road
• Tomlinson Road
• Centurion Way
• Carr Lane
• Adjacent to Lancashire Business Park
• Matrix Park
• Sherdley Road
• Factory Lane
• North of Capitol Centre

New sites for employment uses in the Borough

The Local Plan allocates sites for new development in the Borough. These sites are listed below:

• North of Lancashire Business Park
• West Paddock, Leyland
• Land adjacent to Leyland Business Park, Farington
• Farington Hall Estate, Farington

The above sites are allocated under policy E1 of the Local Plan. In addition to the above sites, land is also allocated for development at the Cuerden Strategic Site, and BAE Systems (Enterprise Zone) under policy C4/C5.

Monitoring Report

This is the third monitoring report to be produced since the Council changed the way it monitors employment land development. For this reason, much of the information in the various tables in the report is repeated. However, this will change as the new monitoring system is progressed and more sites are added to the new employment land monitoring database.

Permissions Granted in Monitoring Period

Previous employment monitoring processes have only involved collecting information on applications and completions on sites that are allocated in the Local Plan for employment uses. However, from April 2014, the process was changed to enable the collection of data for applications and completions on both allocated and non-allocated sites across the Borough. This will enable a much more accurate picture of employment uses across the Borough to be created.

During the 2016/2017 monitoring year, the following employment applications were permitted:

Permissions on Allocated and Non Allocated Sites

86% of permissions for employment development were on allocated employment sites.

Permissions for New Employment Development:

Permission for Changes of Use to Employment:

There were no permissions for changes of use to employment in the 2015/2016 monitoring year.

Permission for Loss of Employment:

Works Commenced in Monitoring Period:

As the new monitoring process has only come into effect from 2014, the Council is only in a position to monitor applications which were submitted since that time. Once this new monitoring system has been in place for a period of time, it is expected that the list of commencements will include applications from a number of different monitoring years.

Development Completed in Monitoring Period