GATESHEAD EMPLOYMENT LAND REVIEW 2018 Gateshead Employment Land Review 2018 Section Page Executive Summary 1 Introduction 7 Scope 8 2 Approach 11 Identifying Sites 11 Assessing Sites 12 Reviewing Employment Areas 16 3 Employment Land Requirements 19 Identifying Economic Development Needs Within the CSUCP 19 Review of Employment Land Requirements 24 Summary of Employment Land Requirements 27 4 Economic Trends 30 Growth Trends 30 Regional Strategic Context 33 5 Assessment of Employment Sites and Areas 38 Assessing Achievability 39 Use And Occupancy Within Employment Areas 40 Addison 43 Blaydon / Derwenthaugh Industrial Estate 46 Durham Road, Birtley 50 East Gateshead 54 Fairfield Industrial Park 58 Felling Industrial Estate 61 Follingsby 65 High Spen 69 Pelaw Industrial Estate 72 Portobello 76 Sands 79 Stargate Industrial Estate 82 Team Valley Trading Estate 85 Teams 93 Whickham 97 Whinfield 100 Additional Sites Outwith Employment Areas 103 6 Estimating the Supply of Employment Land 105 7 Recommendations for Gateshead’s Local Plan 108 Appendices Appendix 1: Site Assessment Table Appendix 2: HELAA Methodology Flowchart Appendix 3: Employment Sites and Areas Maps Appendix 4: Marketing Periods of Vacant Employment Land and Premises in Gateshead and Implications for Local Plan Policy 2 Gateshead Employment Land Review 2018 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTION This Employment Land Review (ELR) has been carried out to assess the supply of employment land within Gateshead, having regard to the need and demand for employment land within the Borough. The ELR will inform the emerging policies and proposed allocations of Gateshead’s Local Plan, specifically those contained within the Land Allocations and Development Management Policies document Making Spaces for Growing Places (MSGP). As the ELR will provide an important element of the evidence base supporting Gateshead’s Local Plan, it has been prepared with regard to relevant policies and allocations of the Gateshead and Newcastle Core Strategy and Urban Core Plan (CSUCP). The CSUCP (which forms parts one and two of Gateshead’s Local Plan) was adopted in March 2015. CSUCP policies related to employment land were informed by several studies, most notably: the Gateshead Employment Land Review and Office Capacity Study (July 2012); the NewcastleGateshead Office Needs Assessment (July 2012), and; the NewcastleGateshead Office Bridging Paper (September 2013). This ELR updates the CSUCP evidence by providing an up-to-date appraisal of the availability of land in Gateshead for employment uses, in accordance with the requirements of Planning Practice Guidance (PPG), and the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). This ELR is accompanied by a detailed assessment of economic development needs, provided within the October 2016 Newcastle and Gateshead Employment Land and Property Demand Assessment Update (PDA). The PDA reviews trends in the commercial development market in Gateshead and Newcastle, with reference to regional / sub-regional influences where appropriate. It also reviews recent economic projections in assessing need for employment land against the requirements established within the CSUCP. This ELR should be considered alongside the PDA, and consequently, the ELR does not seek to replicate the analysis presented in the PDA. However, the ELR makes reference to key elements of the PDA where summarising its assessment of development needs. APPROACH The approach to assessing sites in this ELR conforms to PPG on carrying out housing and economic land availability assessments. The assessment of sites has identified potential development sites, assessed their suitability for development, and the likelihood of development coming forward. Critically, Gateshead’s ELR has been prepared in parallel with the Council’s Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA), with both studies intended to inform MSGP. Although the SHLAA and ELR are discrete reports within the MSGP evidence base (allowing more nuanced consideration of supply and demand issues in each report), preparing the assessments in parallel contributes to a comprehensive approach to identifying potential development sites, and a coordinated assessment of potential uses. The approach taken by the Council conforms to NPPF and PPG requirements in identifying appropriate land to meet housing and economic development needs. EMPLOYMENT LAND REQUIREMENTS AND ECONOMIC TRENDS Based on an assessment of economic development needs provided within the 2012 ELR (which was in turn informed by a February 2012 report on Long Term Employment and Demographic Projections, commissioned by Gateshead Council and Newcastle City Council), policy CS6 Employment Land sets out a minimum requirement for 150ha of net developable employment land across Gateshead and 3 Gateshead Employment Land Review 2018 Newcastle to be identified and allocated to meet gross employment land requirements, including requirements for office floorspace. Policy CS6 identifies a specific requirement for office floorspace of a minimum of 512,000 sqm (gross internal area). Supporting text to policy CS6 makes clear that of the combined requirement for employment land provision, a minimum of 70ha is to be provided in Gateshead. Supporting text also identifies that 20% of the minimum 512,000sqm office floorspace is anticipated to be accommodated in Gateshead, with around 75% of the office floorspace being accommodated within the Urban Core. An up-to-date assessment of take-up, market conditions, and economic projections data set out in the PDA and the ELR has found that the employment land requirements of CSUCP policy CS6 remain an appropriate level of provision of employment land to support business growth in Gateshead. ASSESSMENT OF EMPLOYMENT SITES AND AREAS The ELR provides an assessment of potential development sites in Gateshead. It also assesses the appropriateness of allocated employment areas in Gateshead. The aim of these parallel assessments is to identify potential development sites in Gateshead that will be capable of accommodating identified requirements for employment land, and defining broad employment areas where employment uses will be acceptable in principle. Addison • Two sites are recommended for allocation for employment uses, providing 0.88ha net developable employment land. • Proposed revision to the employment area to remove land to the east of Newburn Bridge Road from the allocated employment area Blaydon / Derwenthaugh • One site, providing 0.91ha net developable employment land, is recommended for allocation. • Proposed revisions to the boundary of the employment area to exclude Blaydon Industrial Park/Churchills, and land to the east of the A695 from the allocated employment area Durham Road, Birtley • Proposed revisions to the employment area to tighten the boundary around existing industrial sites of Beaconsfield Industrial Estate, Komatsu and AEI Cables. East Gateshead • Proposed allocation of two sites for employment uses, comprising 3.24ha net developable employment land • Proposed revision to Main Employment Area boundary to exclude land within the Urban Core (allocated for development, within relevant CSUCP policies) Fairfield Industrial Park • Proposed removal of policy protection from the employment area, allowing a more flexible approach to new development proposals. Felling Industrial Estate • Proposed allocation of four sites for employment uses, comprising 6.71ha of net developable employment land 4 Gateshead Employment Land Review 2018 • Proposed revisions to the employment area boundary to exclude the former Morrisons Depot, Abbotsford Road, and land to the north and east of Baltic Road, allowing a more flexible approach to new development proposals Follingsby • Three proposed development sites have been identified, comprising 6.02ha of net developable employment land • Proposed expansion of the Key Employment Area boundary to include land south of Follingsby Lane (allocated for distribution / warehousing use in CSUCP policy KEA2) High Spen • Proposed removal of policy protection from the employment area, allowing a more flexible approach to new development proposals Pelaw Industrial Estate • Proposed removal of policy protection from the employment area, allowing a more flexible approach to potential future uses Portobello • Proposed expansion of the employment area, to include land to the east of Portobello Road • Two potential development sites are proposed for allocation for employment uses, contributing 1.62ha net developable employment land. Sands • Proposed removal of policy protection from the employment area, allowing a more flexible approach to potential future uses. Stargate Industrial Estate • Proposed continued policy protection of the industrial estate as a Local Employment Area. Team Valley trading Estate • Seven sites are proposed for allocation, comprising 10.17ha of net developable employment land. Teams • Proposed revision of the employment area boundary, to exclude land south of Derwentwater Road (Jennings Ford), and allocation of the remaining land as a Local Employment Area. Whickham Industrial Estate • Proposed allocation of one site with capacity for 0.85ha net developable employment land Whinfield • Proposed allocation of one site with capacity for 0.51ha net developable employment land Additional sites outwith allocated employment areas • One site has been identified as having potential to accommodate employment uses outwith a defined employment area. The site, at Saltwell Business Park has capacity for 0.66ha net