Councils need to look at creating more employment sites, says expert

LOCAL authorities may need to revisit their development plans to allocate more land for employment use following the abolition of the Regional Spatial Strategies, according to an expert.

DTZ’s Northern regional planning director John Brooks has said that following the abolition of of the regional development agencies, responsibility for allocating industrial land now falls entirely within the remit of local authorities.

“This will present problems, as well as opportunities,” said Brooks.

“For some local authorities, it will mean that their only allocated employment land is contained within old Local Plans and Unitary Development Plans; perhaps reflecting the market’s requirements ten or more years ago. 

“For other local authorities, it will mean that their emerging Local Development Framework documents can be more reflective of current market demands and see new employment allocations coming forward in the near future.”

He said that irrespective of existing planning documents, it was important for industrial landowners to get involved in the Local Development Framework process.

“Job creation is more important now than it has been for a long time,” said Brooks. “As a consequence, local planning authorities may be more receptive to proposals for allocating employment land than they have been for years; especially if it appears that jobs could genuinely be created as a consequence of the allocation.”