Agenda item

The Principal Planning Policy Officer said that the Bishop’s Stortford Employment Study provides an updated assessment of the employment market in the town and makes recommendations about the types of jobs and employment land likely to be required.

The Panel was advised that the Council had commissioned consultants AECOM to produce the study, which would serve to update a previous document produced in 2013. Since the previous study, there has been changes to the town’s employment sectors including new development, societal changes and an overall change to the use class order.

The Principal Planning Policy Officer said that the study has considered a range factors including the town’s socio-economic profile, the performance of its office and industrial markets, the role of and condition of existing employment sites and the potential for future employment development.

The Panel was advised that the study had also taken account of wider influences, changes to working patterns, economic trends and the strategic role of Stansted Airport. The study had also identified that Bishop’s Stortford had experienced significant recent growth with further housing and employment still to come forward.

The Principal Planning Policy Officer said that ensuring an appropriate balance between homes and jobs would be critical to delivering sustainable development and supporting the local economy moving forward. She said that whilst demand for office space was currently more limited, there was a clear and ongoing need for industrial and logistics space with relatively low vacancy rates indicating a constrained supply.

The Panel was advised that the study therefore highlights the importance of safeguarding existing employment land, supporting the delivering new employment floorspace and considering the potential need for additional provision in the future. This study would support decisions for the future economic strategy Bishop’s Stortford.

The chair referred to the three sites coming forward in the town, which provide good mixed-use developments with a mix of housing and employment land. The Principal Planning Policy Officer responded to a question in terms of whether officers had worked with the county council on this report. The council was working with the HCC more generally in terms of the development of the new Local Plan.

The Council had taken account of the recently published Hertfordshire Economic Strategy which covered the whole of Hertfordshire. The Panel was advised that the work of the consultants had identified the potential for the growth of AI in Hertfordshire. Whilst the focus for large strategic employment sites is generally more to the south of the county, there is evidence that the proximity of the town to the M11 means that there is demand for industrial floorspace and this should be considered moving forward.

Councillor Crystall proposed, and Councillor Dumont seconded a motion that the Executive be advised that the Bishop’s Stortford Employment Study, 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 for Development Management purposes 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 Bishop’s Stortford Employment Study, 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 for Development Management purposes in the determination of planning applications.