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Ryedale Employment Land Review Report Prepared on behalf of Ryedale District Council April 2006 Prepared by Knight Frank 9 Bond Court Leeds LS1 2JZ Ryedale Employment Land Review Report Prepared on behalf of Ryedale District Council April 2006 Executive Summary Introduction Knight Frank have been instructed by Ryedale District Council (RDC) to undertake an Employment Land Review as a key part of the Local Development Framework (LDF) process. The overriding aim of the Ryedale Employment Land Review (RELR) is to provide the evidence base for policies and allocations in the Ryedale LDF. The ELR has been undertaken primarily in accordance with the three stage process outlined in the ODPM Employment Land Review’s guidance note and we have utilised their recommended three stage process as a framework. This can be summarised as follows:- · Stage 1 – Taking stock of the existing situation, including an initial assessment of “fitness for purpose” of existing employment sites, including allocated land. · Stage 2 – Creating a picture of future requirements, including an assessment by a variety of means (such as economic forecasting, consideration of recent trends and assessment of local property market circumstances) of the scale and nature of likely demand for employment land and the available supply in quantitative terms. · Stage 3 – Identifying a new portfolio of sites by undertaking a more detailed review of site supply and quality and identifying and designating specific new employment sites in order to create a balanced local employment land portfolio. RDC have also requested that certain specific issues relating to the Ryedale economy and property market are investigated as part of the Employment Land Review. These include the following:- · Investigating the needs of the advanced engineering sector and the current and future provision of property to meet their needs. · Examining Theme B of the Sub-Regional Investment Plan seeking to develop the economic linkages between York and Ryedale (particularly Science City York clusters). Ryedale Employment Land Review Report Prepared on behalf of Ryedale District Council April 2006 · The likely role and future property market requirements of the B1 office sector. · The potential provision of a technology and business park. Key Findings Economy · The economy of Ryedale falls into two fairly distinct geographical areas and this has been recognised in the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS). Southern Ryedale includes the largest urban area of Malton/Norton and is strongly influenced by its proximity to York. Northern Ryedale is more remote and rural and influenced by its upland character and environmental quality. Local services are provided in the market towns of Helmsley, Kirkbymoorside and Pickering. · Due to the rural nature of the district, industry has traditionally focused on agriculture and manufacturing however the food and drink industry, engineering and tourism are now also major employers. Although agriculture and manufacturing are still an important part of the Ryedale economy, both of these sectors are, overall, in decline, both nationally and locally. · The majority of jobs in Ryedale district are provided by small local firms employing less than 25 staff. · Ryedale has the highest self-employment rate and the highest rate of home working of any district in North Yorkshire. Stage 1 – Assessing the Existing Situation · Property market activity is greatest within Malton/Norton, followed by Pickering, Kirkbymoorside and Helmsley. · In Malton and Norton, economic and property market activity is currently focused in four locations – Malton town centre, York Road Industrial Estate, Malton, Showfield Lane Industrial Estate, Malton and Norton Grove Industrial Estate, Norton. Ryedale Employment Land Review Report Prepared on behalf of Ryedale District Council April 2006 · In Pickering, economic and property market activity is focused in three locations – Pickering Town Centre, Westgate Carr Lane Industrial Estate and Thornton Road Industrial Estate. · In Kirkbymoorside, economic and property market activity is focused in three locations – the town centre, the junction of Ings Lane / A170 Industrial Area and at Kirkby Mills Industrial Estate. · In Helmsley, property market and economic activity is focused in two locations – the town centre, and the Station Road/ Sawmill Lane Industrial area. · In order to reach a view about which sites should be 'protected' or 'released' in stage 1, we have made a balanced, criteria-based consideration of individual sites applying 'market attractiveness', 'sustainable development' and any overriding 'strategic planning factors'. · The full results of the criteria-based assessment are included as a technical Annex to this report. · Where there is substantial over-supply, we have recommended for release all sites where there has been no market interest and which also fail the sustainability criteria. However, where that removes most of the forward supply we have re-examined individual sites and recommend keeping them in the portfolio, for subsequent detailed appraisal, provided that they could meet market needs if ownership or physical constraints were resolved. It should be noted, however, that oversupply is not generally an issue in Ryedale. · Where there is a relatively tight supply only those sites which fail the sustainability test and which are extremely unlikely to meet market requirements have been recommend for release. Again, oversupply is not generally an issue in Ryedale. · Where we recommend that, for strategic, economic or planning reasons, a site is retained in the portfolio despite it being subject to serious ownership, physical and/or environmental constraints, it is discussed later in Stage 3 of the review, where the relevant mechanism is identified to bring the site forward for development in future. Ryedale Employment Land Review Report Prepared on behalf of Ryedale District Council April 2006 · The Stage 1 assessment and site surveys confirm that, in general, all existing sites across Ryedale and particularly those in Malton are at full capacity or are in the hands of a developer and have development pending. · The exceptions to the above are the largely inappropriate allocations made under the existing Local Plan, which have failed to come forward for development due to a variety of constraints. These include sites at Pickering, Kirkbymoorside and Helmsley and Norton Grove, Malton. · Other exceptions include allocations for the ‘expansion of existing businesses’ that have yet to be developed. · Stage 1 concludes with a full list of the preliminary site appraisals, which are shown in the main body of the text. Stage 2 – Forecasting Future Requirements Economic and Employment Forecasting · Utilising the Regional Employment Land Study and Regional Econometric Model, the forecasting of future employment land requirements is undertaken and analysed for Ryedale. The economic forecasting is undertaken on the basis of three scenarios based on differing rates of growth and policy intervention. · Scenario A is the policy neutral or base output of the regional econometric model and reflects longer-term structural trends, and assumes that they will continue. · Scenario B is a trend based evaluation, but reflecting the recent upturn in the economy. This scenario assumes for modelling purposes that the strong employment growth over the last 4- 5 years will continue into the future, at least over the next decade. · Scenario C assumes the success of a range of policy interventions to “transform” the economy of all sub regions on a sectoral basis and through productivity levels in the service sectors. Ryedale Employment Land Review Report Prepared on behalf of Ryedale District Council April 2006 · During the course of undertaking this study several factors emerge which have led us to consider that Scenario C is the most appropriate for Ryedale. These are discussed in more detail in the main body of the report. · The Regional forecasting concludes that the number of employees employed in B1 industries in the Remoter Rural region (of which Ryedale forms a part) is forecast to increase by between 1,465 and 4,216 employees up to 2016, with the change particularly sharp in Ryedale and Craven. · The forecasting concludes that the number employed in B2 industries within Remoter Ryedale, uniquely in the Yorkshire and the Humber region, is forecast to experience an increase under all three scenarios. This is particularly evident in Ryedale, which under scenarios A and B is exceeded only by the growth in Harrogate, and under scenario C by Harrogate and Hambleton. · As regards B8 industries, the forecasting concludes that overall figures for the sub-region indicate a decline under the first two Scenarios, and a moderate growth under Scenario C, most notably in Ryedale and Hambleton. · In comparison to other districts in the Remoter Rural region, the forecasting concludes that Ryedale demonstrates a very positive percentage growth in employees from the 2006 base in all sectors, particularly in B1 and B2 uses. This indicates that Ryedale must provide employment land to accommodate these sectors particularly as Ryedale is starting from a lower base of available employment land than any of the other districts in the sub region (8.35 Hectares). · The conclusions from the REGIONAL ECONOMETRIC MODEL indicate a net projected demand for employment land of 1.62 hectares (4 acres) per annum under Scenario C. This provides the following profile: Ryedale Employment