Full text:
London Southend Airport JAAP Issues and Options Report Representation on behalf of Cherry Orchard Homes and Villages PLC
We are writing on behalf of our clients, Cherry Orchard Homes and Villages PLC, to respond to the recently published draft Joint Area Action Plan for London Southend Airport. Our clients have an interest in the Cherry Orchard brickwork site.
Our clients are supportive of the proposals for growth set out in Scenarios 2a, 2b and 3, and in particular Scenario 3, and we set out below our reasons for supporting these options. Where are comments relate directly to one of the questions raised in the Issues and Options paper, we have referenced the question to assist in processing this response.
Employment potential and the overall Vision
At a strategic level, both Rochford and Southend districts have a requirement to deliver significant levels of new employment alongside the growth of housing and the achievement of other land-use objectives. Achieving employment growth requires the provision not just of sufficient land to enable businesses to growth, but also creating the conditions that encourage economic investment and business confidence.
Southend Airport offers not only a significant source of local employment and growth potential in its own right, but also the potential to act as a catalyst for employment growth in other sectors, irrespective of whether or not they have a direct link to the aviation industry.
The airport has the benefit of a readily accessible location, both in terms of public transport and the highway network. Unlike other potential employment locations in the eastern parts of Southend, it does not suffer from the same perceived image of being peripheral and inaccessible. Furthermore (and as set out in the Issues and Options document at section 2.3), the general quality of the building stock is high, and whilst there is undoubtedly scope for intensification and redevelopment within the Aviation Way business park, generally the image of the area is one of vibrancy and an 'up-market' business environment that attracts quality companies.
The expansion of the airport will serve to further reinforce the attractiveness of the area for business, both through major projects such as the new rail station, and through more general investment in local transportation and the local environment. The location also offers the potential for diversification in the local employment base, attracting new office and high tech development alongside the growth in aviation and engineering.
The identification of the airport as a strategic growth area, and the establishment of a clear framework through the JAAP, provides the opportunity to focus public and private sector investment in a consistent and co-ordinated manner to deliver the required infrastructure enhancement.
Within the above context, we would respond to Questions 3.1, 3.2, 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5 as follows:
Q3.1 Overall Vision we agree with the overall vision as set out on page 33
Q3.2 Objectives we agree with the proposed objectives. In particular, we agree with the reference in the first objective to "other land uses", since the JAAP offers the opportunity to deliver complementary land uses alongside the focus on new employment as part of the achievement of a balanced growth package;
Q4.3 Role in the wider sub-region the JAAP has a significant role to play in helping Rochford and Southend meet their strategic requirements for employment growth up to 2021 and beyond;
Q4.4 Suitability for growth the area offers the potential to deliver a highly sustainable location for employment growth, alongside a clear strategy for infrastructure enhancements;
Q4.5 Attractiveness to investors the location offers a potentially prestigious environment for inward investment, and is likely to be highly attractive to the business community.
The Green Belt
The current boundary of the Green Belt follows an unusual course in the sense that for significant areas it does not follow any recognisable features on the ground. The most obvious example of this is the location of the Green Belt in relation to the airport, but equally in the vicinity of the Westcliff Rugby Club and Green Belt is drawn to bisect the adjoining tennis courts. Irrespective of the JAAP, there is a case for rationalising the Green Belt boundary in this area.
If unaltered, however, the Green Belt would act as a considerable constraint on the achievement of the land use objectives of the JAAP. In all but the low growth scenario some change to the Green Belt boundary would be required. In our view it will be important to ensure that a lack of land available for inward investment and employment generation does not undermine the objectives of the JAAP, and therefore we support an amendment to the Green Belt boundary.
In accordance with advice in PPG2, where the Green Belt is amended, it will be important to ensure that the alternative boundary is defensible in the long term, and that there will not need to be further amendments.
Not all of the land that may be released from the Green Belt would necessarily be developed in the short term, and the release of employment land in particular may be phased over the longer-term. However, we would suggest that it is important to ensure that any change to the Green Belt is robust in terms of setting an appropriate long-term boundary, and in our view Rayleigh Brook would provide a suitable alternative southern boundary to the Green Belt, with the airport and adjoining land south of the Brook excluded.
In response to Q4.7, therefore, we consider that the Green Belt should be revised, and the revised boundary should be Rayleigh Brook.
The Areas for Change
In response to Q4.12, we agree with the identified 'areas for change'. In particular, we agree with the identification of the Brickworks site as an area for change. We agree that this is an area in need of improvement, and that the quality of the area is poor in environmental terms.
We would add to the analysis by highlighting the fact that the Brickworks site provides a substantial resource of Previously Developed Land, totalling around 6 hectares. Our own technical investigations of the site have shown that the area is not at any substantive risk of flooding, that the ecological value of the site is low (subject to the retention of the boundary vegetation), and that access can be provided in a safe and convenient fashion from Cherry Orchard Way.
The Scenarios
We do not support Scenario 1. The 'low growth' scenario is tantamount to a 'no change' scenario and the opportunity that exists to utilise the airport to stimulate economic development and investment would be lost.
In response to Q5.1, we offer some support for Scenarios 2a and 2b, but our preference is for Scenario 3, which recognises the potential benefits of the area and seeks to deliver them as part of a comprehensive Masterplan aimed at achieving significant employment growth alongside full investment in infrastructure and environmental enhancement.
Cherry Orchard Brickworks
We support the identification of the brickworks site as a location for residential development under Options 2a, 2b, and 3. As indicated previously, our own technical studies have shown that the site is suitable for residential development, and an appropriate scheme would help to enhance the landscape in this location and make good use of an area of previously developed land. We envisage that redevelopment could be a catalyst for improving connections between the Country Park to the west and Rochford town centre to the east, and could contribute to the achievement of the objective for a visitor centre/heritage centre in the area.
On a broader level, we would suggest that the inclusion of an element of residential development as part of the wider land-use proposals for the JAAP would be entirely complimentary to the objectives for the area, both in terms of the local environmental enhancement and in terms of the co-location of housing with an area of employment expansion and transportation investment. The site would represent a highly sustainable location for residential development in that context, whilst helping to meet the overall requirement for new homes in Rochford district.
Overall
To conclude, we support the Vision and objectives of the JAAP, and we support the growth scenarios set out therein, and in particular Scenario 3.
I trust the above representations will be taken into account, and we look forward to acknowledgement of receipt in due course.
