Airport Masterplan 2035 LOW RES

Masterplan 2035
Training Facilities
8.65 Newcastle College’s £3.3m Aviation Academy is located on
the Airport’s southside cluster of buildings, and provides
hands-on and classroom based training to supply the
aviation sector with a broad range of skilled workers,
working closely with airlines at the Airport. The current
operation is quite physically constrained, and so should
future expansion be required modest growth could be
accommodated to the north, or through development at a
separate location to the south of the runway.
Freight and Bonded Warehousing
8.66 The Airport has an established freight village to the south of
the runway. This provides just over 9,000sqm of warehouse
and associated office floorspace for freight processing,
with healthy occupancy rates. The park has excellent,
unconstrained access to the A696 trunk road; however
it does not have direct airside/apron access with goods
transferred to aircraft by road vehicle.
8.67 There remains expansion land which could be developed
adjacent to the existing freight park to provide additional
floorspace, which will be safeguarded for this purpose.
8.68 The Airport also has a dedicated freight apron to the south
of the runway, from where most dedicated cargo flights are
handled. The facility is currently underutilised and there is
vacant land adjacent to it which is suitable for development
to provide facilities complementary to what is currently
provided at the Airport Freight Village.
Employment Sites
8.69 As detailed in section 7, the economic importance of
the Airport extends beyond the Airport itself; with the
connectivity we provide being a major driver and attractor
for business growth and inward investment. The Airport
is also well connected to the strategic road network and
public transport, and our large land holding means that
we can provide for, and attract employment development,
potentially not with a direct association with our operations.
8.70 The Airport has 4 sites, totalling over 152 acres (63 ha),
which are well suited to provide for different types of
employment development. They have previously been
safeguarded by the Airport for such development and this
Masterplan will continue this policy.
8.71 Sites A, B, and D are allocated under policy KEA1 of the
Newcastle Gateshead Core Strategy (2015) for employment
development, and so have strong planning policy
support. They also benefit from Enterprise Zone Status;
a Government designation which provides tax incentives
for businesses located there and funding to help deliver
infrastructure which makes the sites more viable for a
developer.
8.72 Site B is an 11.7 acre (4.8ha) site located to the south of the
existing freight park. The site benefits from an extant outline
planning permission for the development of 16,250sqm of
office space, favourable topography, and excellent access
to the Airport and Callerton Metro Station.
8.73 The long term outlook for demand for offices in Newcastle
suggests that over 500,000sqm of additional high quality
office space will be needed in the City to 2030, and a further
240,000sqm to 2038 22 . Recent industry reports by the
leading property agents indicate that there continues to be a
tight supply of out of town centre grade A offices in relation
to healthy levels of take-up. As such the Airport will continue
to support the development of the site for a high quality
office park and complementary services.
8.74 Site A is a 57.8 acres (23.2 ha) land parcel immediately to
the south of the runway, and adjacent to the existing ‘golf’
freight apron. The site has good access to the A696 and
is isolated from residential areas. It also has the potential
to offer direct airside access for freight and distribution
operations. However this unique regional benefit also
means that the land may also have value for the Airport’s
future operation. Therefore we could not support piecemeal
development of the site and the Masterplan seeks to protect
the land for the development of a large scale, regionally
important freight distribution development, or other project
of significant scale, which will have considerable positive
economic impact on the North East.
8.75 Site D is a 30.8 acre (12.5 ha) site located to the south east
of the operational airport area. It is closely associated with
the Great Park Housing development. The proximity to
housing and the large development footprint it provides,
means it is well suited for the development of a large
single office scheme such as a corporate headquarters
or a public-sector facility. The site is allocated in the
development plan for this use and the Masterplan supports
this. The site may be linked to the wider airport site in the
future by the Great Park Link Road (see section 9).
8.76 The Airport will continue to promote the sites for
employment development over the Masterplan period, and
will work with partners to secure a developer and occupiers
for the sites, and so realise their economic potential for the
region. If demand for the sites emerges we expect that the
sites can begin to deliver some development in the short
term and then steadily across the Masterplan period.
8.77 Site C is a 52.1 acre (21.1ha) site immediately south of
the eastern end of the runway. The land is currently within
the Green Belt in the Newcastle Gateshead Core Strategy
(2015), which runs to 2030. The Masterplan therefore
does not propose to stipulate a preferred development
use for the site, but will work with partners with a view to
establishing a more favourable planning status after 2030,
and accommodating development toward the very end of
the Masterplan period and beyond.
Figure 20 – Employment Development Sites
22
Newcastle Gateshead Office Needs Assessment (2012) - Storeys Edward Symmons on behalf of Newcastle City Council.
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