Newquay Town Framework Plan (Background Evidence) Review of Employment Sites May 2010 1 1 Introduction This short paper reviews the employment sites which are currently available for employment purposes within the town of Newquay. The principal elements of evidence base to inform this paper are the Cornwall Employment Land Review (ELR) currently being undertaken by Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners which is scheduled for completion in July 2010 and the Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Employment Space Strategic Assessment 2007 – 2017 (Amion Study) by Amion Consulting dating from July 2007. This paper is being undertaken as a starting point for plan making considerations within the process of developing a Town Framework Plan for Newquay. Its primary purpose is to provide a background to the employment land in the area and contains extracts from the ELR of the sites identified within Newquay (see Appendix 1). It also contains a table of the sites and a corresponding map identifying all sites which can be referred to. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the following: • Land identified in the ELR within the Newquay area. • The amount of vacant and available land sourced from existing Surveys and Strategies covering Newquay • The appropriate scale of development that could be accommodated Key of Sites Identified Existing Proposed E1 – Ealing Science Centre E8 – Newquay Growth Area E2 - Hope Terrace E9 – Treloggan Industrial Estate E3 – School Close Craft Units, St. Columb Minor E10 – Quintrell Downs E4 – Quarry Park Road E11 – Trevithick manor E5 – Tor Road E12 – Land at Trevemper E6 – Treloggan Industrial Estate E14 – Tregunnel Hill E7 – Trevemper Mill 2 2 Background to Employment in Newquay The town of Newquay falls within the Newquay Community Network Area (CNA) as outlined on the plan below and is the CNA’s dominant urban area. The profile for the CNA recorded in 2007 the population of the town was 21,994 with the wider CNA holding a population of 26,900. For the purposes of the town framework the boundary for assessment includes the parishes of Newquay, Colan and Crantock. As you will note the CNA boundary is far more extensive than the assessment boundary but due to the towns dominance of the CNA it is clearly a reliable source in summarising its profile. It should also be noted that Newquay is the fifth largest town in Cornwall and the largest on the County’s west coast. The most prevalent employment sectors in the CNA are hotels and restaurants at 33% and retail and wholesale at 19%. However it should be noted that these figures do not include self-employment which is a significant proportion of the workforce in agriculture, fishing and construction, the 2001 Census indicated that 11.53% of the people of working age in Newquay are self-employed. Unemployment in Newquay was recorded at 5.2% in February 2010 Claimant Count figures – Nomis), above the England average of 4.3%. The Amion Study In July 2007 the Amion Study was produced for the South West of England Regional Development Agency (SWRDA). This extensive evidence based document included assessments for the Newquay area and used a number growth scenarios (2.8%, 3.2% and an aspirational scenario). The aspirational scenario was developed to reflect the ambitions of the partners in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly to deliver the objectives outlined Convergence Programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly 2007- 2013. The aspiration scenario is based on the assumption that by 2017 a GVA per capita target of 75% of the UK average will be reached for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. 3 The forecasts of this study in relation to future demand under these growth scenarios is outline in table 1 below and demonstrates that under all employment use classes and under each growth scenario demand in the Newquay Travel to Work area (TTWA) (as defined in 1998 by National Statistics) is expected to increase between 2007 – 2017. Table 1: Summary of Amion Study for Newquay Employment Land Growth – 2007-2017 (ha) Floorspace Growth - 2006-2017 (sqm) 2.8% 3.2% Aspirational 2.8% 3.2% Aspirational B1a/b 6.7 6.9 7.8 16,826 17,412 19,526 B1c/B2 1.9 1.9 3.1 4,357 4,357 7,239 B8 4.6 4.6 6.5 10,665 10,665 14,998 TOTAL 13.2 13.5 17.4 31,848 32,434 41,762 In addition the study identified existing land supply alongside vacant premises supply (as of October 2006) to identified projects gaps in terms of land availability to meet demand under the growth scenarios between the period 2007-2017. The methodology for assessment included vacant employment floorspace, sites currently available and on the market, with or without planning permission, land allocated for employment uses through the Development Planning Framework and non-allocated land or “oven ready” sites already remediated and/or serviced and available for immediate development and occupation. The conclusions of this assessment outlined that there was a total of 21.70 ha of available land in Newquay in October 2006. This available land was broken down into floorspace (sq mtrs) as is demonstrated in table 2 below. Table 2: Total Employment Land capacity for Newquay (sqm) (October 2006) Offices Industrial Total Grand Total Current Land Total Current Land Total Current Land Premises Potential Premises Potential Premises Potential 300 25,938 26,238 184 27,668 27,852 484 53,606 54,090 The Amion study also identified projects gaps in terms of land availability to meet the demand identified under the growth scenarios between the period 2007-2017. The conclusions of this gap analysis are detailed in table 3 below. Table 3: Gap analysis between projected demand and supply 2007-2017 for Newquay (sqm) (October 2006) Growth Industrial Office scenario Demand Vacant Land supply Gap Demand Vacant Land supply Gap premises premises supply supply 2.8% p.a. 15,022 184 27,668 12,830 16,826 300 25,938 9,412 Growth Scenario 3.2% p.a. 15,022 184 27,668 12,830 17,412 300 25,938 8,826 Growth Scenario Aspirational 22,237 184 27,668 5,615 19,526 300 25,938 6,712 Growth Scenario 4 3 Summary of Employment Sites Table 4 below sets out the sites identified in the ELR and sets out for each site: • Size of the site • Size of developed vacant area (this includes vacant properties such as empty industrial units) • Size of undeveloped vacant area (this includes vacant land including buildings under construction) • Quality of the site (this is an average of the 6 different quality scores for each site) • Accessibility by public transport (distance to railway station measured along most direct road/path, where convenient route could be identified) • Accessibility to the main road network • Development constraints • Overall Employment Land Review score (out of a total of 60 points) Table 4: Summary of Employment Land Review Site Total Developed Un- Access to Access to the Average Development ELR area vacant developed public main road quality of constraints Score (ha) area (ha) vacant transport network the site (out of area (ha) 60) Ealing Science 0.71 0.71 0 ELR score 3 1 km to A3058 1.67 22 Centre, Treloggan and 1.1km to Lane A392 Hope Terrace 0.29 0.03 0 ELR score 4 0.45 km to A392 2.67 32 Jewson’s (Mixed 0.679 0 0 ELR score 4 0.76 km to A392 2 25 Use), off Mount Wise Newquay Growth 13.5 0 13.5 ELR score3 With inclusion of 2.83 38 Area Trencreak relief road site will be Allocated approximately within 0.8km of A3058 and A392 Quarry Park Road 0.95 0 0 ELR score 3 0.3 km from 2.5 32 A3058 and 1.2km from A392 School Close Craft 0.18 0 0 ELR score 4 Site directly 3 33 Units, School Close, adjoins A3058 St. Columb Minor and A3059 Tor Road 0.27 0.03 0 ELR score 4 1km to A3058 2 27 and 1.5km to A392 Treloggan Industrial 8.96 1.03 2.015 ELR score 4 Site is 0.4km to 3.17 37 Estate A392 Trevemper Mill 0.26 0.1 0 ELR score 2 Site directly 2 25 adjoins the A392 TOTALS 25.799 1.9 15.515 269 The sites reviewed by the ELR do not include the proposed aeronautical related employment space provision detailed in the Draft Newquay Airport Masterplan as is further referred to in the Amion study. However this space is specifically aeronautically related and is justified on the basis of requiring a direct link with the airport. It is therefore considered that this space in itself does not contribute to or demand the land capacity of the town. However it should be acknowledged that there will be over riding benefits to the town and such a development will have the potential to assist the diversification of the local economy away from the existing dominant tourism and leisure related uses. The table also excludes a number of sites detailed with the Newquay and St. Columb Strategic Investment Framework (SIF) which identified as an output to deliver 5 hectares of new ‘B’ use business space by 2015 designed to meet the needs of the Lisbon Agenda and BREEAM construction standards to qualify for Convergence gap ERDF funding. The SIF included a number of sites that are outside of current planning commitments in terms of land allocations (ie. Newquay Growth Area(NGA)) and have not been assessed through the ELR.