Revised Deposit Plan - Wychavon District Council

6.2. Employment Land
POLICY ECON1 PROTECTION OF EXISTING EMPLOYMENT
LAND
Proposals for the change of use or redevelopment of land or premises
identified for or currently in employment use will not be permitted
unless:-
a) there is a sufficient supply of sites for a range of employment uses to
meet both immediate and longer term requirements over the Plan
period; and
b) the applicant can demonstrate that the site/premises is no longer
capable of meeting employment needs; or
c) development of the site for other appropriate uses will facilitate the
relocation of an existing business to a more suitable site; or
d) unacceptable environmental problems are associated with the
current use of the site and the proposal will remove them; or
e) the use is ancillary to an employment use; or
f) the site is located in a town centre and the proposed use will
contribute to the vitality and viability of the centre or forms part of a
regeneration project.
6.2.1. The supply of employment land in the District is made up of the “core” sites
identified under the previous Policy together with smaller unidentified sites
which frequently accommodate valuable employment uses within the towns or
in the rural area. It is important that Policies in this Plan seek to protect
employment land to ensure that there is sufficient land in a range of locations
to cater for the different land/locational requirements of a variety of business
uses. Employment land can often be subject to pressure to accommodate
alternative uses. Once “lost”, however, it will be difficult to replace it. The
Council is limited in terms of the amount of land it can make available for such
development. The incremental loss of employment land will erode the variety
of sites/premises necessary for a strong employment base. The Council is
particularly concerned about pressure to redevelop small scale local
employment sites within the urban area and villages which add to the
important mixture of uses necessary for communities in the District.
6.2.2. To ensure that the District can accommodate and retain a range of
employment uses, this Plan will protect all employment sites to ensure that a
balanced range in terms of size and location is retained. Proposals for the
loss of any employment site will be considered in the first instance, in terms of
the quantitative and qualitative effect the proposed loss would have on this
supply and proposals which would have a detrimental effect individually or
cumulatively will be refused. Where a proposal is considered not to have a
detrimental effect on the supply of sites, applicants will still be required to
demonstrate that there are overriding reasons why the land should be
developed to other uses by satisfying any of criteria b - f outlined in the Policy.
This may will include the requirement for a site to have been continuously
marketed for a minimum of 18 months., to demonstrate that the site/premises
is no longer capable of meeting employment needs.
6.2.3. The Plan identifies sufficient employment land to accommodate growth up to
2011. It is important that once land is allocated for industrial or business
development that new development should be directed towards it. It is
Wychavon District Local Plan Revised Deposit (July 2003) Page 142
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