Explanation EC1

Definition of “employment uses”

6.10

Whilst other forms of development such as retail, leisure and tourism can provide significant amounts of employment, employment uses are defined in the planning legislation as:

•  Business uses (Class B1 uses) – includes offices (not including financial and professional services available for visiting members of the public), research and development uses and light industrial uses appropriate in a residential area;

•  General Industrial uses (Class B2); and

•  Storage or distribution (Class B8).

Some “Sui Generis” uses (i.e. uses which fall outside a defined Use Class and are therefore not in the B1, B2 or B8 Use Classes) such as waste transfer stations and car dismantlers share characteristics with B2 and B8 uses and can be appropriately located in some parts of Knowsley’s industrial areas. However, the location and design of these facilities needs to be carefully considered – see policy EC3 for more details. 

6.11

The re-use of employment sites for other employment purposes often does not require planning permission due to permitted development rights.  Where planning permission is required, continued use for employment uses will be favoured, especially in the strategic employment locations.  Planning permission may not be granted where the new use would have significant adverse impacts on other neighbouring uses in terms of amenity, traffic, etc.  Policy EC3 deals with changes from employment to non-employment uses.

Maintaining an adequate supply of land and premises for employment uses

6.12

A key requirement of the Plan is to ensure that there is at all times an adequate supply of sites and premises of a variety of types and sizes available across the Borough for a range of different employment uses.  A total of 164.8 hectares has been identified for development in the period to 2016 for employment uses. This overall total includes land which already (as at 30.6.05) had planning permission (34 Ha), allocations in policy EC2 of this Plan (105.2 Ha) and additional land at Kings Business Park and South Prescot Action Area (Area A and C) which is allocated in policies EC4 and EC5 of this Plan (25.6 Ha). Sites with planning permission are listed in Appendix 5.

6.13

Various studies have indicated that between 1986 and 2003, an average of 10.19 hectares of land per annum was developed for employment uses in Knowsley (see figure 6.2).  Theoretically the overall land supply that is now available will be sufficient to maintain this rate of development over the plan period (to 2016) and beyond.  However, the decline in the land uptake experienced over the period 2000-2003 when compared to the period 1996 to 1999 indicates how most of the largest and most easily developed sites have now been developed.  Possibly reflecting the more restricted supply of larger sites with good ground conditions and without ownership, contamination, access and infrastructure problems, the rate of development in the period 2000 to 2004 has been much less than that which occurred previously. The currently available sites also do not include any sites within the largest size range (over 20 hectares).

6.14

Several sites suffer from being a small or irregular size, have inadequate accommodation or are contaminated.  However, it is not appropriate to allocate land currently outside of the urban area (i.e. Green Belt land) for employment uses given the findings of the Merseyside Green Belt study (see chapter 9, "Green Belt and the Rural Economy").   During this plan period employment land will be monitored in terms of the supply and demand of different types, sizes and locations of land and buildings and this will be taken into account by the Council in producing successor documents to this UDP.

Strategic Employment Locations

6.15

The Strategic Employment Locations, within which employment uses will be concentrated in the Plan period, are identified in section 1 of policy EC1.  They are the most sustainable locations for employment uses as they have good existing infrastructure, particularly public transport and strategic road links, are within or adjacent to the urban area and mostly constitute brownfield land.  Furthermore, they are appropriate for employment use due to their segregation from residential areas, which reduces impacts on residential amenity.  They all fall within the Objective 1 Strategic Investment Areas in which Objective 1 funding will be concentrated in the period to 2006.

6.16

Each of the Strategic Employment Locations provides its own specific opportunities which are summarised below:

Huyton Business Park
Business or industrial uses which would enhance a gateway location near to the M62/M57 interchange.Huyton Business Park

South Prescot Action Area - Areas A and C
Re-development in area A to provide B1, B2 and/or B8 uses and in area C to provide one or more of the following uses: business and residential uses.

Halewood
New large-scale industrial or warehousing uses, particularly those which would benefit from proximity to Liverpool John Lennon airport, the railway and/or strategic road freight networks.

Knowsley Business Park
New business, industrial or storage uses which are compatible with a high quality landscaped Business Park.

Knowsley Industrial Park
New business, industrial and/or storage uses, particularly those which would benefit from proximity to the strategic road freight network, and/or to the Knowsley Rail Freight Terminal.

Kings Business Park
New business or hotel uses, and suitable industrial uses, which are compatible with a high quality Business Park setting and with the designation of the site as a Regional Investment Site.

6.17

Although most opportunities for new employment uses are located in the Strategic Employment Locations, the Council considers that some new smaller scale employment uses could be located outside such areas.  Appropriate locations for small-scale managed workspace schemes to encourage the establishment of new businesses may include town, district and local shopping centres. Specific opportunities have been identified for the provision of managed workspaces in North Huyton New Deal for Communities area, South Prescot, Kings Business Park and the Ravenscourt district centre in Halewood.  Such uses would however need to comply with Plan policies regarding these locations. Employment uses falling within Use Class B1 (see “definition of employment uses” above) are the most appropriate for any location which is close to primarily residential areas, having, by definition, no impact in terms of visual appearance, noise, vibration, odour, atmospheric pollution or other nuisance. 

6.18

Offices can create a large amount of traffic and increase the vitality and viability of town centres.  A sequential approach to their location should be taken, with town centre sites being considered first, then edge of centre, and finally Strategic Employment Locations.  A proposal for an office development in an out of centre location must be accompanied by a supporting statement providing evidence that a sequential approach to site selection has been taken.  Policy S8 (Location of Development for Town Centre Uses) provides more information about the sequential approach to the location of development. 

6.19

Change of use or re-development of a site or premises currently in employment use to a non-employment use will generally be resisted. Exceptions may be made, however, if it is demonstrated that there is no current or likely future demand of the land or premises for employment use, or that there would be significant regeneration, environmental or amenity benefits.  In the case of the former, the applicant will need to provide evidence that the land or premises has been actively marketed at a realistic market rate for a period of at least six months.

6.20

Proposals that conflict with a regeneration strategy approved by Knowsley MBC will not be permitted.  The A580 Corridor Improvement Strategy, for example, includes environmental improvements such as new hard and soft landscaping in an effort to improve the physical environment of the A580 in order to attract new investment.  Development that would detract from these efforts will therefore not be permitted.

6.21

Compulsory Purchase Orders may be necessary to assemble the land or obtain properties required for a regeneration or development scheme.  Land and/or buildings may be required for various reasons, such as allowing comprehensive development, to ensure that a scheme is large enough to be viable or to enable access to another site.

6.22

All development needs to be appropriate in terms of other Plan policies, and in the case of employment development, the following policy areas are particularly important:

•  Design quality - Building design, site layout, effect on the amenity of neighbours;

•  Transport – ensuring choice of travel to new developments and impact on road traffic;

•  Environmental protection and nature conservation.

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