The overall strategic Policy 1.6 for business areas and development is:

Policies for Business

Broad areas for employment uses are recognised:

Major Employment Locations (MELs): Areas where employment uses will be concentrated, particularly industrial and ancillary uses. The Council will encourage the retention, location, and expansion of industry in these areas, particularly those industrial or commercial enterprises currently in residential areas, which require improved premises or are generating unreasonable disturbance (see also Policy 6.4).

Employment Sites: The Council will encourage employment uses such as light industrial, small scale office, or appropriate mixed uses, in order to minimise any adverse effect on adjoining residential areas, and which provide as much local employment on their site as is compatible with their location.

Shopping Centres: Multi-purpose areas with retail, employment, community, cultural, tourism, and other uses benefiting from relatively centralised locations, as well as residential uses. The Council will encourage the retention and expansion of such uses and support a wide range of employment opportunities.

Business Use in Residential Property: also provides for an increasing, though small, proportion of business use in the borough.

The Council will actively promote, monitor and manage its industrial capacity in light of local and strategic assessments of need, releasing surplus capacity to other activities, especially housing, in line with pan London and national policy.

Sustainable development recognises the interdependence between housing and employment policy and the need for a proper balance between houses, jobs and other services. Protection of land designated for industrial use will ensure job opportunities for local residents. Nineteen percent of jobs (21,600) in 1998 were in manufacturing, transport, storage, and communications (1998 Annual Employment Survey ONS/GLA). There was a net outflow of workers in 1991 of nearly 20,000 (1991 Census). Arguments for reducing the need to travel support the retention of a wide range of employment sites. Furthermore the number of economically active is expected to increase by 6,000 between 1996 and 2006 (1997 Round of LRC Demographic Projections).

The changing economic structure has seen large growth in the service sector, particularly in business services. The importance of focusing growth in town centres or at other major public transport interchanges is recognised. The objectives of preserving a broader economic base and encouraging a diversity of activity will nevertheless be facilitated by land use policies aimed at protecting employment land from other development pressures.

Whilst unemployment has fallen recently, to 3.6% (5,186 claimants - February 2001 (GLA and ONS Claimant Count), some parts of the Borough continue to experience higher levels of deprivation. Development of community strategies (see Strategy Chapter) to generate sustainable economic development will have land use implications, and the need to link regeneration initiatives to planning policy, maximising urban renaissance, and non-car travel is recognised. Sites with potential for development are listed in Chapter 10 in Schedule 10.21 and on Map Sheet 15. They are also shown on the Proposals Map. Development briefs have been approved as Supplementary Planning Guidance. Site modernisation and expansion will be encouraged.

Provision of training, education, and childcare, related to development proposals, will be pursued through the use of planning agreements (see Table 1A).

Proposals on new sites that are consistent with the above will be considered in the context of their contribution to the character and amenity of the area, an appropriate mixture of uses and the possible over-provision of offices in the areas concerned. Town Centre strategies will provide detailed guidance. Net loss of residential accommodation will be resisted.

Additionally, in determining applications for major office development the Council will take into account:

Ealing's location close to the central London market and to Heathrow, and its links to the national transport network, has led to the development of significant industrial and distribution activity. Policies for business use will continue to support these functions.

Demand for industrial land is reflected in the amount of vacant industrial and commercial sites and premises available - about 165,000 sq.m (West London Inward, Aug. 2000). This is not excessive as a percentage of total stock (c.7%), given the volume of new development that is taking place, the increases recorded in the numbers of manufacturing and distribution units, and start ups of new businesses in the Borough. A tendency for lower site coverage in new development supports arguments for retaining industrial land.

Whilst flexibility of use will be encouraged, this will be enhanced by ensuring development is to industrial standards, with plot ratios not normally exceeding 1:1 and site coverage 75%, although higher densities might be permitted in areas of high public transport accessibility. On average, employment in warehousing is still lower than in industry, although the difference is reducing. Recent surveys suggest 31.8 sq.m per worker for industrial use, 40.1 sq.m for warehousing, and 17.9 sq. m for offices ('The Use of Business Space' SERPLAN/Roger Tym and Partners 1997). The importance of job creation in regeneration areas is recognised.

The Council will encourage regeneration in the Major Employment Locations by encouraging redevelopment and refurbishment of out-dated buildings and sites; bringing into full use vacant and under used buildings and sites; and encouraging the development of small scale nursery industrial units.

In addition, the Council will provide detailed planning briefs and advice to assist in the provision of high quality development, especially where mixed use developments are desirable. The required mix of uses will normally be specified.

Where appropriate, liaison with appropriate authorities will take place in order to assess the danger of environmental pollution and other hazards, so that appropriate conditions on development can be imposed and undesirable proposals can be resisted. Care will be taken particularly where development adjoins residential areas.

Tourism related activity is increasing, and the growing difficulties in meeting demand in Central London puts increasing pressure on outer London, to provide accommodation for tourists requiring access to local, national, and international transport networks. The Council recognises the issues arising for housing, traffic, and the use of open land, and the potential conflict that might arise from hotel development. However it also recognises the opportunities for employment, leisure provision and added vitality to town centres associated with such development.

Given the level of housing need in the borough, the Council will generally resist the change of use of accommodation that is, or was last used for housing, to convert to hotels or guest houses for tourists. This will relate particularly to proposals affecting types of housing which are in short supply and meet a need for social housing in the borough.