Agenda item

The Assistant Planning Policy Officer presented a report that

referred to the employment land review (ELR) was an assessment of the district’s allocated employment areas which had been undertaken in order to inform the preparation of the new Local Plan and therefore contributing towards the NPPF requirement for the preparation and review of all polices to be underpinned by relevant and up to date evidence.

The Panel was advised that amongst the evidence due to be updated was that which related to employment and the economy.

The Assistant Planning Policy Officer said that the last ELR was undertaken in 2013 and was now out of date. He said that the national planning policy context and the classifications had evolved and there had been major societal changes following Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the districts allocated employment sites had changed significantly, and this updated ELR had captured and considered those changes.

The Assistant Planning Policy Officer said that, as outlined in the methodology, this review assesses all 33 of the district’s established employment areas which were allocated for industry in according with policy ED1 of the 2018 District Plan. He said that all of the assessments had been conducted through a combination of site visits and desk-based research.

The Panel was advised that the bulk of the review was made up by employment land assessments within chapter 4, which covered the main settlements followed by the village sites.

The Assistant Planning Policy Officer said that overviews of each settlement and the villages were respectively followed by more in-depth assessments of each individual employment area. These assessments were effectively a detailed audit of how the district’s allocated employment areas were being used and how this had changed since the last ELR in 2013.

The Assistant Planning Policy Officer said that the ELR had set out specific conclusions and recommendations which were also broken down by settlement and this chapter had set out how each site should be considered moving forward. The Panel was advised of the three types of recommendations that were set out in the report.

The Panel was advised that the ELR was supported by consultation with planning officers, where necessary, in terms of relevant planning history or background information. External consultants AECOM had worked on related employment studies for each of the district’s main settlements. The ELR would inform the new East Herts Local Plan as part of the evidence base and would be a material consideration for the determination of planning applications.

The Panel was advised on the slow reduction in the amount of employment land and whether there was anything in the new NPPF that counteracted that trend in anyway. The Assistant Planning Policy Officer detailed that, with regard to the 2018 District Plan, there were caveats in Policy ED1 regarding the loss of employment land.

The Assistant Planning Policy Officer referred to the changes to use classes in the new version of the NPPF and said that there was a challenge between the provision of housing and strong economic growth. The Chair commented on the change in working patterns in commercial offices due to the emergence of hybrid working.

Councillor Dumont proposed, and Councillor Crystall seconded a motion that the Executive be advised that the Employment Land Review, attached as Appendix A, be agreed as part of the evidence base to inform the new East Herts Local Plan and as a material consideration in the determination of planning applications.

After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED - that the Executive be advised that the Employment Land Review, attached as Appendix A, be agreed as part of the evidence base to inform the new East Herts Local Plan and as a material consideration in the determination of planning applications.