Spelthorne Borough Council


Back to Contents

7	Economy and Employment Provision

	STRATEGY

	Summary
7.1	The strategy for the economy and employment is to maintain the employment capacity of the Spelthorne economy. This takes into account anticipated trends in employment demand and labour supply, new employment development in town centres, particularly Staines, and in designated Employment Areas.

	Relevant Objectives
	17.	To support the retention of sufficient well located employment land to enable the maintenance of the local economy and to support redevelopment of well located land to meet business needs.
	18.	To encourage redevelopment of poorly located employment land for housing or to meet other development needs.
	19	To provide for the continued development of Staines as a focus for a mix of town centre uses including retail, leisure and employment and to improve access to the town centre.
	20.	To maintain the role of the centres of Ashford, Shepperton and Sunbury Cross in providing local services.

	Explanation
7.2	Spelthorne is a significant employment location with almost 39,000 people working in the Borough and a very low level of unemployment among local residents.
7.3	The Economy and Employment Land Study, May 2006 and update April 2007, show that the Spelthorne workforce tends to be less well-qualified than the County or Regional average, with almost a quarter having no qualifications and less than a fifth having a degree. While the overall position is broadly compatible with the national picture and comparable with some adjoining districts outside Surrey, it does suggest there is scope for improving skills to the benefit of the local economy and the individuals concerned. The Council will support initiatives to foster skill development and will seek to support provision of any related facilities that involve development of land. The Community Plan identifies the primary role of various educational organisations, including the County Council, in delivering a comprehensive range of specific actions.
7.4	The Economy and Employment Land Study also shows that there are already more than enough extra jobs in the pipeline to match forecast growth in the local workforce, allowing for permissions for new development and the take up of vacant premises.
7.5	Also as part of the study a review of employment land has been carried out, following government guidance, to identify which sites should be retained in employment use. The plan identifies these sites for retention for future employment use and encourages their effective use through support for redevelopment and modernisation where appropriate. The sites proposed for safeguarding under this approach are listed in Policy EM1. It allows for the loss of some smaller poorly located commercial sites in residential areas, which, in total, amount to about 6.8% of the Borough’s commercial floorspace. This will be more than compensated by already approved development and vacant floorspace. There is no need to identify any new land for employment purposes to meet local needs.
7.6	The Borough’s four main centres, particularly Staines, are also significant employment centres with a range of commercial activities. The accessibility of Staines makes it a good location for office development and further development will be supported. In other town centres the scope for commercial development is more limited and further commercial development should in any event be compatible with the scale and role of the centre concerned. The other centres have good public transport and are appropriate accessible locations for continued employment activity.
7.7	The Council has considered whether specific provision needs to be made for additional airport related development due to the expansion of Heathrow. The airport is currently being expanded with the construction of Terminal 5, which increases its passenger handling capacity by 30-35 million passengers per annum (mppa), from 60 mppa to 90-95 mppa. Land required for airport related development was assessed during the T5 Inquiry, under the supervision of a working group made up of BAA and local authority representatives, and specific provision was made within the airport boundary. It was concluded that airport related development requirements arising from T5 could be met without releasing additional land.
7.8	The Government’s Future of Air Transport White Paper, 2003, expresses support for further growth at Heathrow in the form of another runway north of the existing airport provided specific requirements relating to air quality, noise and surface access are met. It suggests the runway might be available in the period 2015-2020. It also suggests changes to allow more intensive use of the existing runways should be examined, including mixed mode operation. The Government led ‘Project for the Sustainable Development of Heathrow’ was established to assess whether additional capacity could be provided at Heathrow whilst complying with the stringent environmental conditions set out in the 2003 White Paper. The outcome of this work was published for consultation in November 2007 and reaffirmed the Government’s proposals to provide additional runway and terminal capacity at Heathrow. In January 2009 the Government confirmed its policy of supporting further growth at Heathrow by the provision of a third runway. The Council would expect the approach to airport related development established through the T5 Inquiry to be continued with any further expansion. This would involve BAA and the relevant adjoining local authorities working in partnership to consider the future needs for airport related development and assessing the most appropriate means of meeting the requirement.
7.9	In the absence of a final decision on further expansion there is no basis for releasing any additional employment land in Spelthorne in connection with the expansion of Heathrow beyond T5. The Council recognises that employment land requirements within and around the airport would need to be re-examined should further expansion be agreed and that this may in turn require a future review of the employment land strategy if additional land is shown to be needed. Other aspects of the spatial strategy may also require review.

	Strategic Policy SP3: Economy and Employment Land Provision
	The Council will maintain the employment capacity of the Spelthorne economy by maintaining well sited larger Employment Areas and supporting the renewal and improvement of employment floorspace to meet needs. It will support initiatives to improve the skills of the local workforce.

	DETAILED POLICIES

	Land for Employment Development
7.10	The strategy of maintaining the employment capacity of Spelthorne will be implemented through two main employment policies. Policy EM1 identifies 11 major Employment Areas which are to be protected. The boundaries of these sites are shown on the Proposals Map.
7.11	Within the designated Employment Areas land in employment use is to be retained, the net loss of employment land or floorspace will not be accepted, unless the loss of floorspace forms part of a development that is of overall benefit to an existing business operating from the site.
7.12	Employment development under the policy includes industry, offices, research and development, warehousing, retail, hotels and some leisure uses. Retail use will only be allowed within existing retail centres in accordance with Strategic Policy SP4. Extensions to existing retail floorspace outside retail centres will be considered in the light of the guidance in PPS6. Hotels, where appropriate, will be expected to be in existing town centres where there are the greatest opportunities for non-car based travel.
7.13	The Borough’s four main centres of Staines, Ashford, Shepperton and Sunbury Cross are identified as Employment Areas within Policy EM1 and for these centres the policy needs to be applied in the context of Strategic Policy SP4 and Policies TC1 and TC3. These policies also recognise the role of these centres as accessible locations for retailing and other local services as well as the scope for mixed use development, which will be acceptable provided there is no net loss of employment floorspace.

	Policy EM1: Employment Development
	The Council will maintain employment development by:
	a)	retaining the following designated Employment Areas and supporting in principle proposals in these areas for employment development:
		Staines town centre Ashford town centre Shepperton centre Sunbury Cross centre Windmill Road, Sunbury Hanworth Road and Country Way, Sunbury Ashford Road, Littleton Road and Spelthorne Lane, Ashford London Road (East of Crooked Billet roundabout), Staines Bedfont Road, Long Lane, Stanwell (including Northumberland Close and Camgate Estate) BP Chertsey Road, Sunbury Shepperton Studios, Shepperton
	b)	encouraging proposals for redevelopment and extensions that enable business needs to be met and make the most effective use of available employment land,
	c)	refusing proposals that involve a net loss of employment land or floorspace in Employment Areas, unless the loss of floorspace forms part of a redevelopment that more effectively meets needs for an existing business operating from the site or the loss of employment land is part of a mixed use development on the site which results in no net loss of employment floorspace, or it can be clearly demonstrated that the maintenance of existing levels of employment floorspace on the site is unsustainable and unviable in the long term,
	d)	allowing mixed use schemes in town centres where there is no net loss of employment floorspace.

7.14	Policy EM2 sets out the approach to development of existing employment sites outside designated Employment Areas, which are either relatively small or have been assessed in the Economy and Employment Land Study to be poorer locations for employment development. Sites of less than 0.4ha were not considered for safeguarding as employment land under Policy EM1.
7.15	The presumption in favour of employment development that exists under Policy EM1 will not apply to areas that are not safeguarded. Further employment development may still be acceptable where it can take place in an environmentally acceptable way. However, where sites are poorly located, particularly in relation to adjoining residential uses or the highway, redevelopment for housing or other suitable purposes will be encouraged. The Allocations DPD includes proposals for housing on some poorly located employment sites.

	Policy EM2: Employment Development on Other Land
	The Council will allow further employment development on existing employment land outside designated Employment Areas where it can be demonstrated the development can take place in an acceptable way.


Top