Object

Representation ID: 56570

Received: 29/07/2013

Respondent: Warwickshire County Council Physical Assets Business Unit

Agent: Savills

The removal of the Gallagher Business Park site from consideration as a potential employment allocation cannot be justified on the basis it has been allocated for residential development, as set out in the GL Hearn Report.

The site assessment, which considers all potential alternative sites and gives the Gallagher Business Park site a relatively high overall score, does not justify its exclusion from being a potential employment site.

The Gallagher Business Park site has not been allocated for residential development and cannot technically be considered as an allocation until it has been considered at an independent Examination by a Local Plan Examiner.

The current approach to the review and selection of employment sites to meet the District's future employment requirements is therefore considered to be flawed and unsound.

Whilst the planning permission status of the Gallagher Business Park site has changed, the characteristics of the site as a potential employment site have not changed it is still a site that WDC should be considering as part of the Employment Land Review options, and taken into consideration as part of the evidence base review.

It is understood that Gallagher Estates consider that there is no reasonable prospect that the Gallagher Business Park site will be used for employment purposes on the grounds that an employment use has not been forthcoming to date, despite a prolonged period of active marketing.

If this evidence is accepted by WDC as a justification for the exclusion of Gallagher Business Park from being a potential employment site, it must follow that any other site in the nearby vicinity is likely to suffer the same problems.

The fact that the site is also being considered as a potential residential allocation is insufficient grounds for it to be dismissed as a possible employment site. If there is any doubt over the deliverability of potential employment sites being considered as part of the Local Plan review, then all site options should be considered and, where appropriate, market and economic signals should be taken into account to determine their future use.