Employment Land and Premises ReviewEB 21 Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council H80(p)/Final Report/July 2013/ BE Group Employment Land and Premises Review Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................... 1 1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 5 2.0 STRATEGIC CONTEXT ................................................................................ 12 3.0 SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE ...................................................................... 45 4.0 PROPERTY MARKET – GENERAL.............................................................. 61 5.0 PROPERTY MARKET – ANALYSIS ............................................................. 74 6.0 EMPLOYMENT LAND................................................................................... 76 7.0 NEIGHBOURING AREAS ANALYSIS .......................................................... 87 8.0 COMPANY SURVEY ................................................................................... 116 9.0 STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS .......................................................... 130 10.0 GROWTH FORECASTS ............................................................................. 143 11.0 CONCLUSIONS.......................................................................................... 154 12.0 RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................... 170 Appendix 1 – List of Consultees Appendix 2 – Valuation Hereditaments by MSOA Appendix 3 – Enquiries Analysis Appendix 4 – Hinckley and Bosworth Vacant Property Schedules Appendix 5 – Sites Appraisal Appendix 6 – Employment Land Site Proformas Appendix 7 – Employment Area Assessments Appendix 8 – Company Survey Questionnaire Appendix 9 – Economic Forecast Models Detailed Calculations Appendix 10 – Developer Marketing Standards H80(p)/Final Report/July 2013/ BE Group Employment Land and Premises Review Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Introduction i) This report assesses the supply, need and demand for employment land and premises (use class B) in Hinckley and Bosworth. It has been carried out for Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council to provide robust evidence to underpin and inform its Local Plan for the period to 2026. This report comprehensively reviews and updates the Council‟s existing Employment Land and Premises Study which dates from May 2010. There are six main elements to this study: A review of the scale and distribution of employment land and premises in Hinckley and Bosworth A consideration of the economic impact of key policy decisions including the award of Enterprise Zone status to MIRA Technology Park and the requirement for office premises outlined in the Hinckley and Bosworth Core Strategy (2009) A review of economic growth forecasts for Hinckley and Bosworth, over the period to 2026 An assessment of the Borough‟s economy that informs the amount, location and type of employment land and premises required to facilitate its growth and address any structural weaknesses (including identified declines in the agricultural economy) Projection of employment land and premises requirements, by scale, sector and nature, to 2026. Methodology ii) A number of research methods have been used – site visits, interviews with property market stakeholders and a survey of 300 businesses (of which 100 responded). This has been combined with extensive consultation with public sector agencies involved in the Borough (and in neighbouring local authority areas). Desktop analysis of existing strategies, reports and documents has also been used to inform the overall findings. The 24 Parish and Town Councils of Hinckley and Bosworth have also been contacted by post and email. The methodology follows ODPM guidance on the production of employment land reviews. H80(p)/Final Report/July 2013/ BE Group 1 Employment Land and Premises Review Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council Findings iii) Hinckley and Bosworth is a relatively affluent, reasonably skilled area. It does however lose some of its higher skilled workers to neighbouring areas. Hinckley and Bosworth has a primarily local property market in both the industrial and office sectors. The industrial market is far larger than the office sector. Any inward investment tends to come from the logistics sector and there is evidence of reasonable demand for the next phase of Logix Park (Hinckley Commercial Park). iv) There is a shortage of employment land across Leicestershire and any viable development sites are generally being held by developers in anticipation of an improving market. v) Industrial need is for modern moderate/good quality units of up to 1,000 sqm. The current absence of such provision is seeing businesses looking to relocate outside the Borough, particularly to neighbouring areas in the West Midlands. There is a surplus of older industrial factory and mill space in the main towns. vi) The office market generally meets the needs of local service sector businesses and provides ancillary space for existing industrial firms. Most provision is in the form of small business centres, most of which are performing well at present. Demand is for 0-100 sqm leasehold suites. Employment Land Supply vii) There is a headline total of 98.56 ha made up of 11 sites. However most is not readily available for development (although the 24 ha Nailstone Colliery may be available within three years). It is also unbalanced – 93 percent of the supply is represented by four sites in Hinckley, Desford, at Nailstone Colliery or MIRA. viii) The headline land supply picture is only part of the story. 15.79 ha is at risk of not actually coming forward, because of continuing protection for long term possible development by the landowner/leaseholder interests of Caterpillar/Neovia. 34.03 ha at the MIRA Enterprise Zone is also included but, in practice, this land will only be available to companies undertaking research and development activities associated with transport technology industry sectors. A summary of this is shown in Table ES1. ix) The worst case scenario is that there is only 48.74 ha (nine sites); however a more realistic assessment is that there is 82.77 ha comprising of ten sites. H80(p)/Final Report/July 2013/ BE Group 2 Employment Land and Premises Review Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council Table ES1 – Hinckley and Bosworth Land Supply Summary Area Headline Potential Realistic MIRA Land, Worst Case Land Land Scenario, ha (number Scenario, Supply, ha Losses, ha ha of sites) ha (number of (number of (number of (number of sites) sites) sites) sites) Total 98.56 15.79 82.77 34.03 48.74 (11) (1) (10) (1) (9) Source: BE Group 2013 x) There is a further 11.4 ha of employment land in the pipeline contained within the Earl Shilton and Barwell SUEs, which is likely to come on stream from this year onwards. This would add to the realistic land supply of 82.77 ha, taking it up to 94.17 ha. Recommendations xi) This report has had full regard to the requirements of the NPPF to encourage and deliver growth through the planning system. The key recommendations are: The Borough has a land supply surplus of 26.36 ha when measured against long term land take-up. There is therefore there is no need for the Council to identify further land allocations in the emerging Sites Allocations DPD. For the remaining 27 Category A classified sites non – B Class employment uses should only be allowed if an applicant can demonstrate exceptional circumstances and that the proposals will not have a significant adverse impact on surrounding local uses. From these 27, the Council should designate nine key employment sites and areas to be safeguarded for B Class Uses and other employment uses which achieve economic enhancement. These align to the NPPF description of „key employment sites‟ and are: o MIRA Technology Park Enterprise Zone, Higham on the Hill o Hinckley Commercial Park (Logix Park), Burbage o Sketchley Meadows Industrial Estate, Burbage o Hinckley Fields Industrial Estate, Hinckley o Harrowbrook Industrial Estate, Hinckley o Triumph Motorcycles Sites, Hinckley o Tungsten Park, Hinckley o Caterpillar Site, Desford o Desford Hall (former Glengate Hospital site), Desford. H80(p)/Final Report/July 2013/ BE Group 3 Employment Land and Premises Review Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council Exceptionally, uses which have trade links with employment uses or are un- neighbourly in character may be permitted on Borough‟s the 33 Category B Employment Areas. For Hinckley and Bosworth‟s 47 Category C Employment Areas, a more flexible approach could be taken to facilitate a broad range of economic development. The Council should undertake a review of the Category C sites to determine which might come forward for regeneration Employment development outside Employment Areas makes a contribution to local employment activity and jobs. Any consideration of future non- employment use, in such locations, should be addressed in the same way as non „key employment‟ sites and Category B/C employment areas. The Council should work with neighbouring authorities on issues in which interests will overlap, notably the growth of the MIRA Technology Park Enterprise Zone and the development of the A5 Corridor. Review and monitor the employment land and premises position and undertake the study again in about three years, as 2026 is a long time in the future and much will happen before then. Table ES2