ARQIVA LTD Consultation Response to the Welwyn Hatfield Emerging Core Strategy 2012

Contents Pages

1. Arqiva 3

2. Arqiva Teleport Business 6

3. Value of the Global and UK Space Sector 10

4. Contribution to Sustainable Economic Growth 13

5. The Emerging Core Strategy 18

6. Summary and Conclusions 22

Appendix A: Typical Teleport Operation 23

2 1. ARQIVA LTD

The Company

1.1 Arqiva is an electronic communications company with its headquarters in Hampshire and other major UK offices currently in London, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Yorkshire. It now has 7 international satellite teleports (6 in the UK), over 70 other manned locations, and around 8000 shared radio sites throughout the UK and Ireland including masts, towers and rooftops from under 30 to over 300 metres tall.

1.2 The company is owned by a consortium of long-term investors led by the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and has 3 operating divisions: Broadcast and Media, Government, Mobile and Enterprise and Business Operations. Although privately owned the value of Arqiva would probably place it within the FTSE 100.

1.3 Arqiva is technology and service neutral and operates at the heart of the broadcast and mobile communications industry providing shared infrastructure solutions to facilitate the cost effective deployment of nationwide communications services - our sites or networks are used by almost every electronic communications system in the UK.

1.4 At the forefront of network solutions and services in an increasingly digital world, Arqiva provides much of the infrastructure behind television, radio and wireless communications in the UK and has a growing presence in Ireland, mainland Europe and the USA. In the UK, amongst other things, we own and operate the terrestrial television broadcast networks and a large part of the radio broadcast networks.

1.5 Arqiva is a founder member of Freeview (Arqiva broadcasts all 6 Freeview multiplexes and is the licensed operator of two of them) and was a key launch technology partner for Freesat. Arqiva is also the licensed operator of the Digital One national commercial DAB multiplex. Arqiva is also a technology partner of the recently launched ‘YouView’ IPTV launched in July 2012.

3 1.6 Alongside the BBC, Arqiva’s Spectrum Planning Group played a critical role in planning Digital Switch Over (DSO) and we were responsible for making the necessary physical transformation to the television broadcast network. In similar fashion, we are also expanding the Digital Audio Broadcast network.

1.7 In the communications sector the company supports cellular, wireless broadband, video, voice and data solutions for the mobile phone, public safety, public sector, public space and transport markets.

1.8 Major customers include the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five, BSkyB, Classic FM, the UK mobile operators, Globecast, Viacom, Turner Broadcasting, Central and Local Government, the Metropolitan Police and RNLI.

Brookmans Park

1.9 Arqiva owns the Brookmans Park Transmitting Station, which is situated on the north eastern edge of Brookmans Park Village. The site is accessed from the A1000 (Great North Road).

1.10 The Transmitting Station has been in operation since the 1920’s when it was originally developed for the BBC. The site has developed gradually over the years to meet the changing requirements of broadcasting and the electronic communications sector as a whole.

1.11 The overall site comprises approximately 20 hectares and is characterised by a Central Control Zone (CCZ) of approximately 3 hectares where buildings and apparatus are concentrated. These are identified separately on the attached location plan.

1.12 The CCZ includes the main Transmitter Hall, which is a large two storey building with a frontage to the access road. The building was developed as part of the original site in the 1920’s and has been extended. In addition to the transmitter hall, the main building provides ancillary office space, plant rooms and staff facilities. There is some rooftop apparatus and a large oil store to the rear.

1.13 There are 3 further large buildings to the rear of the site, along with other smaller buildings, a tennis court, hardstanding for vehicle circulation and storage and

4 parking facilities. Within the CCZ is also a 45 metre high lattice tower that supports a range of operators, including the Mobile Network Operators. The CCZ has a security fence around it, with some security lighting.

1.14 The extent of development at the site goes beyond the CCZ. In the outlying fields are a number of guyed masts that are used for radio broadcast purposes, i.e. one at 153 metres, one at 79 metres, four at 61 metres and two at 45 metres. In addition there are fields used by the teleport, where a number of large earth satellite dishes are located, together with associated apparatus.

1.15 The site benefits from natural screening, including mature trees, which has been strengthened by structural landscaping and bunds.

The Future

1.16 The site has evolved over the years from a radio broadcast transmitting station to a wider broadcast and media, electronic communications hub. This evolution will continue as demands for electronic communications services grow and technology and site requirements change.

1.17 The prime example of this change is the way in which the site is now also used as an earth satellite teleport. Another example is as technology has changed, the radio equipment necessary to support the broadcast services has reduced. Hence we obtained a Certificate of Lawfulness on 8 February 2012 (LPA Ref: S6/2011/2770/LUP) to enable some of this surplus space to be used for data centre purposes, an area of growing demand.

1.18 It is therefore important that the local planning policy framework should facilitate and encourage the continued development of this site. It is very obvious that in the future, and certainly within the plan period, the economy and people’s lives in general will become more reliant on digital communications and services. In turn, this will increase the importance of the site and its contribution to the national and local economies. By way of illustrating this, we amplify in Sections 2 to 4 upon the teleport facility, which is only one sector of activity on the site. We then go on to suggest how the emerging Core Strategy could provide a better planning policy framework going forward.

5 2. Arqiva Teleport Business

2.1 A key element of the Arqiva business is our significant teleport facilities which have international standing. Arqiva has been voted the Independent Teleport Operator of the Year in 2003, 2007 and 2011 by the World Teleport Association, so our teleport business is critical to the UK and world communications sector.

2.2 Within the UK there are less than twenty teleports operated by a small number of specialist companies offering tailored satellite services. Arqiva owns six of these teleports, the one at Brookmans Park being operated by Globecast. The five other sites, which Arqiva operates directly, are at:

• Thurleigh in Bedford • Martlesham in Ipswich • Crawley Court in Winchester • Chalfont Grove in Gerrards Cross • Morn Hill in Winchester

2.3 All these sites satisfy the key operational characteristics that make them particularly suitable for satellite related development. These include:

• Longitudinal position relative to the equatorial orbit of many satellites

• Proximity to London or other areas where there is high demand for satellite communication

• The availability of fibre optic links to (in the case of Brookmans Park) the capital

• The presence of back -up power supplies

• Sufficiently uncluttered land space to accommodate new satellite dish and associated communications infrastructure

• Secure sites

6 2.4 The network services provided or hosted from these six sites are mission critical and of international or national importance, with extreme resilience. The customer base is considerable including some of the major players in the global economy. The services offered range across the full spectrum of requirements by the electronic communications sector. Satellite services are an increasingly critical requirement for both Arqiva and its customers.

2.5 The satellite communications provided by teleports such as Brookmans Park, form part of the UK Space Industry. ‘Space’ is perceived differently by different people. To some, space is about astronauts and robotic craft exploring the universe. To others, it is all about satellites and football. In fact Space covers a wide range of activities from commercial communications satellites, through location-based services to science and exploration. Space-based infrastructure can support a myriad of applications and services.

2.6 The space sector falls broadly into two main areas being upstream and downstream services. Upstream in simple terms relates primarily to the actual satellite system providers and related services, with the downstream satellite sector being primarily satellite communication provision and related services. Teleports provides both uplink and proportionally larger downlink services. We explain how a typical teleport operates at Appendix A.

2.7 Arqiva teleport sites provide a range of satellite services which play a pivotal role in the provision of a fast, reliable, sustainable and cost effective form of communication. This is absolutely critical to underpinning the UK Digital Economy and making the UK a world class location to have and do business. Our sites provide satellite services which include:

• Teleport and Co-location – providing comprehensive satellite capacity and an international fibre network. Our custom designed co-location and data centres are purpose built on the teleport sites to provide secure, efficient and reliable managed rack space and terrestrial network integration for voice, data and Internet backbone connectivity

• Television - Arqiva, working with Sky Television, delivers approximately 400 TV and 30 Radio channels into over 10 million UK homes as a part of the Sky

7 package; additionally Arqiva and Globecast also provide (primary and backup) satellite distribution of the UK’s Public Service Broadcasters’ TV and Radio channels to the UK network of TV and Radio masts

• Satellite Radio Distribution - Arqiva and Globecast offer comprehensive satellite uplinking and space segment to deliver radio stations to a TV based audience using the BSkyB platform easier. Arqiva and Globecast provide many TV and Radio channels around the globe, into locations including Central and South America, Western Europe, Central Europe and Southern Africa

• British Forces Broadcasting Service - working with the UK’s Ministry of Defence, Arqiva provides a global network for the British Forces Broadcasting Service, delivering TV and Radio globally, to locations including Afghanistan, Brunei, Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands

• International Private Circuit - In areas where fibre based communication is impractical Arqiva provides customers with reliable voice, data and Internet connectivity via satellite

• VSAT Network - Arqiva’s established satellite expertise has simplified the process of launching and managing virtual networks on Arqiva hubs

• Mobile Data Networks – providing simple and reliable mobile satellite connectivity in even the most remote parts of the world

• Disaster Recovery – offering cost effective satellite based disaster recovery system which automatically restore full communications between critical locations in seconds for a customer

• Defence - Arqiva provides satellite communications facilities for UK and US Security and Defence networks and peacekeeping operations globally

• Digital Cinema –Arqiva and Globecast both offer Digital Cinema Satellite Distribution System. This enables movies to be delivered digitally to cinemas and also live events such as Wimbledon and other sports and cultural programming such as opera and ballet to cinemas throughout Europe.

8 Cinema customers around the world include Vue, Empire, Cineworld, Odeon UCI, Reel, Yelmo, Everyman Cinemas.

• Wholesale Internet Backbone - Arqiva's range of Wholesale Internet Backbone via Satellite solutions provides connectivity at significant data transfer rates and low latency connectivity

• Oil and gas sector - Arqiva is providing internet, voice and data services by satellite to ocean locations, such as oil and gas terminals

• Developing economies - Arqiva is working internationally to provide communications where terrestrial infrastructure is not easily available. Arqiva is providing internet, voice and data services by satellite for communities in developing countries.

2.8 The teleport facility at Brookmans Park is therefore an important component of the satellite communication industry in the UK and hence makes an important contribution to the UK and local economies.

9

3. Value of the Global and UK Space Sector

World contribution

3.1 The size of the global space sector has been estimated by the Space Foundation to be about £160 billion in revenues in 2008 – about 0.4% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and forecast to grow to £400bn by 2030.

3.2 The Space Foundation estimates that downstream space-enabled services, such as those provided by Arqiva and Globecast, account for about one third, at approximately £60 billion. This includes services like Direct-to-Home television (DTH) at £46 billion and other commercial satellite services such as fixed satellite services at £11 billion. Over time, there has been a significant trend towards an increased commercialisation of space activities.

3.3 The global satellite industry has grown in real terms by between 7% and 8% per annum (10% and 11% per annum in cash terms) between 2000 and 2008, with growth accelerating in the years 2007 – 2010. This has been driven by satellite services such as those delivered by Arqiva and Globecast while satellite manufacturing and launch industry revenues have fallen or remained broadly constant over the same period.

3.4 In 2011, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which is an international organisation helping governments tackle the economic, social and governance challenges of a globalised economy, has concluded in its report ‘The Space Economy at Glance’ that:

“Space can increasingly be seen as an important potential source of economic growth, social wellbeing and sustainable development” .

UK value

3.5 The UK Space Industry Report ‘ The Size and Health of the UK Space Industry’ (November 2010) states that the 260 companies actively involved in the UK space industry in 2008/2009 recorded a total space-related turnover of over £7.5

10 billion in 2008/09, of which the upstream sector accounted for £930 million and the downstream sector 87% of the market at around £6.6 billion. This is around a 5% share of the world satellite sector – despite a public investment of just 0.014% of UK GDP and demonstrates the importance of the private industry in delivering sustainable economic growth and opportunity.

3.6 In the 1999/2000 period the total turnover was £2.9 billion so the sector has seen an almost threefold increase in 8 years. This represents a real growth of 8% between 2007/08 and 2008/09, and by 21% since 2006/07 (previous survey) which gives an average annual growth rate of 10.2%, which is particularly significant when compared to the year on year growth of other commercial markets in the UK. From a turnover of £7.5 billion in 2008/09, the UK space industry made a value-added contribution to UK GDP of £3.6 billion. This represents a growth of 15% in nominal terms and real (adjusted for inflation) growth of 11% from 2007/08. The UK space sector, particularly the downstream sector, has proven to be only one of a very few business sectors where growth has remained resilient through the world - wide recession in the last few years.

3.7 Employment in the space industry has grown rapidly since the previous survey by the UK Space Industry, with an average annual growth rate of almost 15% between 2006/07 and 2008/09, to reach 24,900 in 2008/09. This compares extremely favourably against the average annual growth rate of 6% recorded since 1999/2000.

3.8 The downstream sector dominates employment, accounting for 17,600 jobs in 2008/09 and saw employment grow at an average annual rate of 16% between 2006/07 and 2008/09. Although compared to some other service sectors which generate larger employment opportunities, the UK Space Industry indicate that the space sector industry’s workforce is highly skilled, with over 70% of employees holding at least a first degree, with a sizeable proportion of firms offering at least one form of training for employees. Hence the UK space industry maintains a highly skilled and competitive workforce which adds significant value to the UK economy and future prospects.

11 3.9 The space industry has a greater impact on the UK economy than simply the activity and jobs in those companies directly part of the industry and there are various positive ‘multiplier impacts’. Both upstream and downstream companies such as Arqiva and Globecast source products, services and consultancy from UK-based companies outside the space industry thereby generating activity in the rest of the economy - this is a recognised “indirect impact”. Furthermore, those employed in the space industry and its suppliers mainly live and spend their earnings in the UK, stimulating additional economic activity which is the recognised “induced impact”. The space industry’s value-added multiplier has been estimated to be 1.91 which means that industry’s direct value-added contribution to GDP of £3.6 billion in 2008/09 results in an additional GDP contribution of £3.3 billion through the multiplier impact. The UK Space Industry advises that in total the sector provided a value-added contribution to UK GDP in 2008/09 of approximately £6.9 billion which is substantial.

3.10 Similarly, the employment multiplier for the UK space industry is estimated at 3.34. This means that the total UK-based employment supported by the UK space industry was estimated to be 83,000 in 2008/09. .

Arqiva contribution

3.11 In December 2012, the World Teleport Association (WTA) issued the top teleport operator rankings for 2012. The Independent Top Twenty ranks teleport operators based on revenue from all sources.

3.12 Arqiva and Globecast were both included within the WTA 2012 Global Top Twenty, which ranks companies based on revenues from all customised communications sources and includes operators of teleports, satellite fleets and business-to-business fibre networks (Globecast and Arqiva came 9 th and 10 th respectively). Again, this reiterates the significance of Arqiva and Globecast as world players in this highly competitive industry and the largest providers in the UK and the contribution made to the national and local economies.

12 4. Contribution to Sustainable Economic Growth

4.1 The global space economy and space technologies are becoming an increasingly important part of the UK everyday life. Weather forecasting, air traffic control or global communications and broadcasting as specialised by Arqiva and Globecast, together with many other essential activities would be almost unthinkable today without satellite technology .

4.2 The UK Space scene has changed significantly in the last 3 years with the creation of the UK Space Agency, the establishment of the International Space Innovation Centre at Harwell, the publication of the Space Innovation and Growth Strategy and the presence of the European Space Agency (ESA) Harwell facility all contributing to the dynamic, new environment in which the UK can flourish. The UK Space Agency Strategy is committed to growth and fully supports the creation of a SatApps Catapult to stimulate further growth and innovation of the space sector. Within this context, the UK Space Innovation and Growth Strategy (IGS) sets ambitious targets for the UK to grow its global market share from 6% to 10% by 2030 and create 100,000 new high value jobs.

4.3 The UK Space Agency Strategy 2011 – 2015 identifies six areas of focus and describes how each area is important to the UK growth agenda and meeting national and global sustainability objectives. The key areas of the strategy are set out below and operators such as Globecast and Arqiva will be important partners in helping to deliver many of these key objectives:

1. Growth through new opportunities - identifying new opportunities for space-based services to an increasing range of customers, from the general public to multi-national organisations. Possible new areas include the provision of information systems to support carbon trading; surveillance to alert us to natural and man-made hazards which threaten critical space infrastructure; innovative launch systems; services to support space exploration; and space tourism. Countries which recognise these new markets and invest early will reap the rewards. Arqiva is committed to looking for new business opportunities and future growth where this complements our existing business services.

13 2. Growth from export - to help realise the UK’s objective to grow its share of the global market to 10% by 2030 then new services and products need to be turned into sales - particularly the global commercial and security markets which are forecast to grow most strongly such as those provided by Arqiva.

3. Innovation supporting growth - for the UK to play a pivotal role in developing cutting edge new applications and services which will assist with many critical global issues such as managing natural resources, understanding and managing our responses to the changing climate, planning and monitoring man-made infrastructure, security and defence. Arqiva is committed to the innovation of its teleport services and developing new services that foster new sustainable growth.

4. Science to enable growth - to make sustained investment into basic science aimed at seeking new knowledge, tangible benefits and new opportunities. Furthermore, a strong research community provides a technical and scientific knowledge base that feeds future developments both in the upstream industries and the downstream business such as those provided by Arqiva.

5. Education for growth - the future wealth of the nation is dependent on developing a highly skilled technical workforce through education into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) but also supporting an expanding space sector which is attractive to new graduates and technicians with appropriate skills. Arqiva training and apprentice schemes look to build on our highly skilled satellite and media teams.

6. Growth through smarter government - supporting the development of ‘smarter’, more efficient government through the use of space data and new services that might be provided to them on the environment, climate, weather, security, agriculture, coastal management and disaster mitigation. Arqiva is committed to looking for new business opportunities

14 which include government, defence and the growing disaster recovery markets.

4.4 A combination of demand and technological change patterns underpin the fundamental drivers of expected long term growth for space-enabled markets in the UK (and globally):

• Continued growth in demand for e-connectivity, mobile communications, broadband and broadcasting, including HDTV, in line with increasing prosperity levels

• Increasing consumer demand for instant access to global information in real-time (e.g. navigation, weather data, live apps)

• Lower costs of access to space-based data, information and services, enabled by technological advances and also by a combination of enabling policies and market competition

• Increasing need for scientific and observational data to support public policy as it seeks to address societal challenges. This includes enabling policy solutions to monitor and combat climate change

• Increasing requirements for natural resources management and rising emphasis on population security

• Growing need for disaster relief and humanitarian aid in response to changing environmental conditions

4.5 Achieving sustainable growth in the space sector and embracing new opportunities is embodied in the Governments ‘New Industry, New Jobs’ agenda and Building Britain’s Future. In particular, this is reflected in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Digital Britain Report launched in 2009 which sets out the Government’s clear commitment to delivering a sustainable digital economy through supporting the growth of modern communications infrastructure through businesses like Arqiva, expanding existing services and exploiting new digital technologies.

15 4.6 Furthermore, this will continue to be the case for the foreseeable future. The Department for Business Innovations and Skills latest economic paper No.18 September 2012, which analyses UK business sectors states at page 4 that:

“Enabling sectors such as information and communication technology (ICT) and electronics potentially offer widespread gains as the technologies they generate often drive innovation and productivity across the whole economy, or provide the solutions for end users that differentiate them in the market”

4.7 The electronic communications and media sector, including satellite communications, is in itself a major and growing part of the UK and global economy as previously detailed. The Digital Britain report recognises that it is electronic networks and services that underpin the digital economy, the associated efficiencies, the economic opportunities created and our overall competitiveness now and in the future.

4.8 There is a need for private sector investment and new development such as that provided by Arqiva to achieve these growth targets and underpin the UK economy. This is clearly set out in the introduction to Lord Carter’s Digital Britain Report:

“In the private sector, whilst we need to invest and build our next generation communications infrastructure, the money and the value in these markets is clearly moving from infrastructure to service and applications development. And whilst we need the wireless and fixed access networks of tomorrow, we must also ensure we have the necessary network security, network resilience, and network disaster recovery programmes”.

4.9 Digital Technology is transforming the way business operates and will continue to do so. It will enhance the delivery of public services, stimulate development of further communications infrastructure and provide Britain with the means to remain a global hub for media and entertainment. The Digital Britain Report recognises that maximising the digital opportunities will provide the country with a

16 key competitive advantage for generations to come. There are exciting opportunities for growth and success. Furthermore, as we live in uncertain times, then network security, network resilience and disaster recovery programmes will also be critical elements going forward. These will substantially rely on resilient space satellite technology rather than terrestrial communications links that are more susceptible to damage during natural disasters or manmade incidents (hence their widespread use for defence and security services).

4.10 However to meet these exciting targets, growth and resilience to our economy, there will be a need for new infrastructure and development of existing Arqiva sites such as that at Brookmans Park. It is recognised that the private sector, including companies such as Globecast and Arqiva, will be instrumental to new growth through investment and building next generation infrastructure. However to achieve Central Government objectives for a truly digital economy, there has to be support at local level and an appreciation that this is likely to be only achieved through established companies like Arqiva, developing out further existing facilities.

17 5. The Emerging Core Strategy

5.1 It is clear from paragraph 2.20 and the review in Section 10 of the Emerging Core Strategy that the economic challenges that face the UK economy as a whole are now manifesting themselves in Welwyn Hatfield.

5.2 The importance the UK Government places on the contribution of the communications industry to economic growth has been most recently underlined in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The NPPF states that the town planning system has a significant economic role by building a strong, responsive and competitive economy, by ensuring that sufficient land of the right type is available in the right places and at the right time to support growth and innovation; and by identifying and coordinating development requirements, including the provision of infrastructure. As recognised within the Emerging Core Strategy that includes electronic communications infrastructure.

5.3 At Paragraph 19, the NPPF states that the Government is committed to ensuring that the planning system does everything it can to support sustainable economic growth. Planning should operate to encourage and not act as an impediment to sustainable growth. Therefore significant weight should be placed on the need to support economic growth through the planning system. This is developed further in paragraph 20 which states clearly that to help achieve economic growth, local planning authorities should plan proactively to meet the development needs of business and support an economy fit for the 21st century. The 21 st century economy is a digital economy and Arqiva provides a significant proportion of the sites and network solutions necessary to underpin that.

5.4 Paragraph 42 onwards of the NPPF stresses that high quality communications infrastructure is essential for economic growth, a matter that we have amplified upon in relation to the teleport facility in Section 4.

5.5 As regards your Emerging Core Strategy, Policy CS 8 states (with our comments) :

“The council will support economic prosperity, encourage inward investment and the creation of a range jobs by:

18 • ensuring that provision is made both for business sectors that are already well represented in Welwyn Hatfield (such as Arqiva and Globecast) and those that are predicted to experience high levels of employment growth, whilst also retaining flexibility to allow for changes in the economy that have not been predicted (and arising out of the digital economy will be technological advances and new services placing demands on sites like Brookmans Park that are difficult to predict) • maintaining a balance of types of employment so that opportunities are available for people with a range of different skills and levels of skill (the employment opportunities at Brookmans Park tend to be technical and highly skilled) . • ensuring that provision is made for a range of opportunities, in terms of sites and premises, to allow new and emerging sectors to be accommodated (and electronic communications continues to emerge and should be allowed to continue at Brookmans Park) ”

5.6 Whilst this overall approach to the economy is one that we support, the Emerging Strategy fails to deal adequately with the circumstances of our site at Brookmans Park, which is in the Green Belt.

5.7 The NPPF is clear in reiterating the permanent nature of green belts, but at the same time recognises the opportunity presented through the development plan process of reviewing the boundaries. The Council is clearly willing to take that opportunity in relation to settlement growth, but as regards our site at Brookmans Park, existing Local Plan Policy RA8 will be retained, suggesting no change in policy approach towards our site. This is not appropriate and cannot be reconciled to current policy objectives relating to both employment and the Green Belt. As such, to maintain the existing framework would not be in the public interest or consistent with key local objectives.

5.8 Local Plan Policy RA8 and the Masterplan dated 3 May 1995 are both out of date and in many respects are a curiosity that has not worked in a satisfactory manner. It is not consistent with existing and past planning policy to have a site

19 within the green belt and then in Supplementary Planning Guidance to elucidate the very special circumstances that might justify development within it.

5.9 From our point of view as a business it has placed us in the uncertain position of having a site that has the illusion of scope for further expansion, but where we still face the difficult test of very special circumstances. As a consequence we have not been able to invest in Brookmans Park and thereby the local economy as we might have free of this constraint. To maintain this position is therefore inconsistent with the objectives set out in Policy CS 8 quoted above and the guidance referred to in the NPPF.

5.10 The main part of the site was developed prior to the green belt designation and although technological advances may make certain apparatus redundant over time, there will always be a demand for new technology and new services. This is already evident from the way in which the site has evolved and needs to evolve further.

5.11 Hence, the reality, which the Emerging Core Strategy needs to address, is that our site at Brookmans Park will be required for electronic communications purposes for the foreseeable future. This will therefore present requirements for new development, which under the existing framework will still only be allowed if we can demonstrate as very special circumstances. This framework thereby places an unnecessarily high hurdle and constraint on the future development of this site, especially as it effectively requires everything beyond a modest extension to fulfil a test of national importance. In some cases, this could be difficult to achieve, even where there is no material conflict with the five purposes of the green belt. The consequence will also be to maintain the unsatisfactory way in which the site has evolved in a piecemeal basis as we have only been to apply for individual buildings and items of apparatus when we can demonstrate very special circumstances.

5.12 A better approach would be to agree with us a sensible alteration of the green belt boundary around our site that will endure for the future and to have a clear policy of encouragement to allow us to take investment decisions with certainty

20 about reasonable development in the future, subject to appropriate development control criteria.

5.13 The Emerging Core Strategy should therefore set the framework for this in Chapter 10, so that an appropriate policy can be developed in the Development Control Plan and the green belt boundary be reviewed as part of the Site Allocations Plan.

21 6. Summary and Conclusions

6.1 The Brookmans Park Transmitting Station was developed in the 1920’s and has continued to develop and evolve as electronic communications technology and services have changed over time. Although this has seen the site expand from being just a radio broadcast site to include a major teleport facility operated by Globecast, further development and investment has not taken place because of the Green Belt designation.

6.2 There are fewer than 20 teleports in the UK and so the installation at Brookmans Park is a relatively rare and important piece of the UK communications infrastructure.

6.3 The UK Government recognises the importance of the digital economy to the economy as a whole. The Brookmans Park site and the teleport in particular are of national and international importance and significant in terms of the economy and sustainability. The Brookmans Park teleport will be critical in meeting new satellite services which will make a major contribution to the UK and local economy.

6.4 The need to further develop our site at Brookmans Park is recognised at national level and would help the attainment of local objectives. The existing policy framework is unrealistic and presents an unnecessary obstacle to growth. In addition, Policy RA8 and the Masterplan are not consistent with either past or current national policy relating to green belt.

6.5 A more realistic approach that would better balance economic and green belt objectives would be to review the boundary around our site. In this way, the Council could properly identify and keep within the boundary the land that can be designated for the long term and facilitate reasonable growth on the remainder of the site.

6.6 Arqiva hopes the Council will adopt this approach and make the necessary changes to Chapter 10. Arqiva also hopes the Council will be prepared to open up a dialogue to discuss this change, the green belt boundary and an alternative policy to apply to the site.

22

Appendix A

Typical Teleport Operation

A.1 In the last 50 years or so, “space” has become intensely commercialised and occupied by satellites, in all types of orbits (circular, elliptical, etc.), in various planes (equatorial, polar, inclined, etc.) and at varying altitudes (i.e. at a range of distances from the earth), from 300km to over hundreds of thousands of km. Different orbit types are appropriate to very different applications and markets;

A.2 Globecast and Arqiva’s interest in space is based on the commercial exploitation of satellites in geostationary orbit, i.e. Geostationary Satellites – a unique setup, where the satellites orbit the earth at the same speed as the earth itself rotates, resulting in the satellites appearing to be “stationary” – satellites travelling eastwards, in the plane of the equator at an altitude of 35,800 kms. The single greatest benefit of this is that dish antennas on the ground can be installed and pointed to a fixed point in the sky, with no need for repointing/tracking, resulting in low cost user hardware solutions.

A.3 Satellite transmission is based on two components – the uplink (i.e. sending signals from earth to the satellite), and the downlink (i.e. where the satellite sends the signals back to earth). What happens on board the satellite is however a little more complex than this, with electronics, frequency converters (frequency changers), high powered amplifiers to send the signals back to earth, and receiving and transmitting antennas (to actually capture signals being uplinked from earth and to beam them back down). The antennas on the satellite are highly directional, covering specific areas of the earth’s surface (which, depending on the application, may be a whole continent, or just a country, or a smaller area even than this – in some cases, such as oil and gas exploration we choose satellites whose coverage areas are over the seas/oceans). The satellite’s frequency converters are present to ensure there is no interference between uplink and downlink transmissions; the High Powered Amplifiers are on board to boost the strength of what otherwise would be incredibly weak (due to

23 the 35,800 kms journey) uplink signals received from earth after travelling over such a long distance.

A.4 From the UK, Globecast and Arqiva can provide services into Asia, the Far East and Australia using Geostationary satellites located in the “Indian Ocean Region” (or IOR), the Americas using satellites in the “Atlantic Ocean Region” (AOR) and into Europe, the Middle East and Africa using any of these satellites, as well as those located in the European Region. Brookmans Park has visibility of satellites as far as 68.5 E longitude in the IOR (i.e. the satellite is located at a longitude of 68.5 E and a latitude of 0 N (i.e. directly over the equator), and 68.5 W in the AOR. For provision of 24/7, 100% available services, the Teleport Operator, i.e. Globecast or Arqiva needs a dedicated dish antenna for every satellite accessed and hence the large number of dishes at Brookmans Park.

A.5 The distance from the earth to the satellite varies according to how close the satellite’s orbital location longitude is to the Teleport’s longitude. For example satellites at (say) 68.5 E in the IOR and/or 68.5 W in the AOR are further away (by up to 1,000 kms) than satellites at 0.0 E, i.e. in Europe. In theory, the Uplink signal arriving at the IOR/AOR satellites is weaker than that arriving at a 0.0 E satellite, although in practice, the difference isn’t significant and we design our antennas at the Teleport no differently for AOR/IOR than for Europe. However, the geometrical relationship between Teleport Longitude and Satellite Longitude is such that for UK Teleports, a satellite subtends a higher elevation angle (typically 30 degrees relative to local horizontal) than for an AOR/IOR satellite – as the difference in the Teleport Longitude and the Satellite Longitude increases, the elevation angle decreases, and in fact at around 72 East (IOR) and 72 West (AOR), the satellite appears to have dropped below the horizon.

A.6 At Brookmans Park a few dishes are over 16 metres in diameter, but smaller dishes are preferred where practicable as they are more cost effective with both a lower initial capital outlay, and a lower opex cost to operate and maintain. However, other factors do sometimes dictate the use of larger antennas. Firstly, antennas, being directional, have an “amplifying” effect – this is due to the fact that they focus the beam in a particular direction. The amount of focusing and therefore the amount of amplification is related to both the wavelength of the

24 signals and the size of the antenna – in short, at lower frequencies, such as C- band usually need antenna sizes of between 9 metres and 16 metres simply to achieve the focusing and amplification. Secondly, a feature of satellite is that rain has a direct impact on signal strength – the greater the rainfall rate (in mmh/hour), the weaker the signal, and of particular issue here is that for these satellites at the extremes of the IOR and AOR as seen from the UK, as the elevation angles get lower, so the distance over which rain can occur increases significantly. As an example, the path length through potential rain at an elevation angle of 10 degrees is twice what it is at 30 degrees – this in turn requires greater amplification from the teleport to the uplink to compensate for what is known as rain fading, hence our need to use larger antennas at extreme IOR and AOR satellite locations.

A.7 An additional factor, of increasing relevance, is that spectrum (allocated in the UK by Ofcom, under direction from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and in alignment with other European administrations) is increasingly required to be shared between different “services”, e.g. between satellite uplinks and line of sight links or e.g. between LTE Wireless nodes and satellite downlinks – there are numerous examples. In this increasingly challenging interference arena, there is a need to focus satellite beams more and more narrowly, which is yet justification for increased dish antenna sizes.

A.8 An operational Teleport therefore requires a whole range of antenna sizes, depending on many factors, most notably the frequency band of operation and the orbital longitude of the satellites and the spectrum sharing/interference arena. The dish antennas are installed on foundations which are commonly referred to as ‘pads’. In the majority of cases these are constructed between 150 and 300mm above the surrounding ground level. In some cases, typically for extreme AOR and IOR located satellites, where the elevation angle is low, it becomes necessary to provide an elevated base to ensure unimpaired visibility of the satellite without blockage or (more likely due to trees) seasonal blockage.

A.9 At the teleport, the Dish Antenna is only one element and a fully operable Earth Station requires a significant electronic hardware complement, such as high power amplifiers, modulators, motors and tracking systems, de-icing system, and

25 so on, most of which is required to be housed in an environmentally controlled location, such as a building or custom enclosure. Equipment and systems contained therein generate heat and for this reason ventilation fans and cooling units form part of the installation. Generally a single cabin is required for each dish antenna capable of transmission and reception.

A.10 Alternatively, the equipment can be housed in a more traditional, centralised building serving a number of dish antennas, although inevitably, the distance between antenna and electronic systems increases, resulting in increased signal losses due to longer cables and waveguide networks. Nevertheless, there are methods by which losses can be reduced, for example through the use of “low- loss waveguide”.

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