Agenda item

4.1

Question from: Anthony Clitheroe

Dear Sir / Madam,

Further to the publicised opportunity to submit questions to the Special Transport, Regeneration and Climate Policy Committee due to sit on Thursday 3 November 2022 we have a particular interest in the employment land allocations set out in the Draft Local Plan and would be grateful for responses to the following questions:

•          Are Members of the Committee satisfied that the draft Local Plan makes sufficient provision for employment land? 

•          The National Planning Policy Framework states that “planning policies and decisions should help create the conditions in which businesses can invest, expand and adapt” and that “planning policies and decisions should recognise and address the specific locational requirements of different sectors”, including “storage and distribution operations at a variety of scales and in suitably accessible locations”.  This is particularly pertinent given the significant need for storage and distribution facilities along the M1 corridor.  Please can Members of the Committee identify where the suitably located storage and distribution sites are in the draft Local Plan?

•             It is evident from the draft Local Plan that there is a shortfall in employment provision and that this will be addressed through windfall and recycling of sites.  Are Members of the Committee satisfied that this will create a strong and prosperous Sheffield economy?

•             Is the Sheffield Logistics Study referred to in the Endorsement of the Publication Draft Sheffield Local Plan (‘The Draft Sheffield Plan’) document publicly available?

•             Please can Members of the Committee explain how sites have been identified and allocated and the process going forward?

We look forward either to your responses, or the protocol for raising questions in person.

Kind Regards,

Anthony

The Chair stated that the draft Plan identifies an employment land requirement for the plan period of 195.5 hectares (across 17 years), representing 11.5 hectares per year.  The Draft Plan identifies a supply that represents 13.4 years’, only 3.6 years’ short of the plan period.  Given that the plan will be reviewed within 5 years and new sites are likely to come forward (either through ‘windfall’ permissions or by identifying new sites, many through ‘churn’), we consider that the level of supply will be sufficient to meet needs over the plan period. 

Any of the site allocations listed that are identified as potentially available for B8 development will be potentially suitable for storage and distribution.  However, we recognise that some locations are more suited to logistics use than others.

The Draft Plan identifies an employment land supply that represents 13.4 years’, only 3.6 years’ short of the plan period.  Given that the plan will be reviewed within 5 years and new sites are likely to come forward (either through ‘windfall’ permissions or by identifying new sites, many through ‘churn’), we consider that the level of supply will be sufficient to meet needs over the plan period. 

This document will be available at the formal public consultation stage.

Sites have been identified through a variety of sources – planning permissions, surveys, call for sites.  The starting point is to assess whether the sites comply with the overall spatial strategy agreed by the Cooperative Executive in February 2022. We also take account of the finding in documents such as the Employment Land Review in terms of the suitability of the site for different employment uses.