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London Southend Airport and Environs Joint Area Action Plan - Preferred Option Consultation
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the proposed preferred option for London Southend Airport and Environs Joint Area Action Plan (JAAP) (your letter dated 13th February 2009).
EEDA receives a number of requests of this kind, as a statutory consultee, and our experience to date suggests a number of points on Core Strategy documents which your authority may wish to consider.
EEDA's principal role is to improve the East of England region's economic performance. Our main concern with Core Strategy documents is therefore that they will help deliver, and provide the spatial framework for:
• sustainable economic development and regeneration in the East of England, and in particular,
• the new Regional Economic Strategy (Inventing the Future - Collective Action for a sustainable economy, 2008).
Planning Policy Statement 1 'Delivering Sustainable Development', 2005 reminds local authorities that in preparing local development plans they should seek to provide a positive planning framework for sustainable growth in support of the Regional Economic Strategy (RES). The RES advocates a region that is internationally competitive with a global reputation for innovation and business growth that harnesses and develops the talents and creativity of all and is at the forefront of a low carbon and resource efficient economy.
In addition, Planning Policy Statement 12 'Creating Strong Safe and Prosperous Communities through Local Spatial Planning', 2008 recognises that spatial planning is a critical element in relation to economic growth and regeneration. The RES supports and complements the East of England Plan and EEDA supports the implementation of policies within that strategy.
EEDA previously commented on the Issues and Options stage of the JAAP and the comments set out here develop these comments.
Policy Context
There is a strong level of strategic support for the development of Southend Airport. The Government's Air Transport White Paper identifies the important role that smaller airports can provide in meeting the demand for air travel. In addition, it identifies the important role that such airports can play in contributing to regional economic development, and in the case of Southend specifically the white paper also promotes the development of additional capacity for business aviation.
The Regional Spatial Strategy reiterates the support in the White Paper for the growth of Southend Airport to meet local demand and to contribute to local economic development, particularly in niche markets such as business aviation, passenger routes not served by larger airports and employment uses that would benefit from an airport location. The RSS also notes the importance of ensuring that proposals for airport expansion take account of the needs of surface access provision and the shift towards more sustainable travel modes.
The Regional Economic Strategy
The RES recognises this area as a priority for regeneration and growth as it lies within the Thames Gateway Growth Area. Goal 8 of the RES - The Spatial Economy sets out the aspirations for the Thames Gateway South Essex 'engine of growth'. Importantly, this includes the need to realise and harness the potential of London Southend Airport as a key transport gateway by improving operational capacity, surface access and supporting business development, particularly in engineering and maintenance. The RES also identifies the importance of Southend as an urban driver for growth and the pressures on transport infrastructure that exist, with particular reference to the A130/A13 junction and the A127.
EEDA is also a core funder of Renaissance Southend and is providing expertise and resources to develop and implement key regeneration strategies for Southend.
Comments
EEDA supports the proposed expansion of the airport as articulated through the JAAP. By maximising the benefits of the airport location to develop further employment opportunities, the Council's will not only be seeking to implement the Air Transport White Paper, but also providing a significant contribution towards the regions economy and job growth targets.
In our previous comments to you, EEDA identified that in supporting the growth of the airport and delivering the scale of ambition as stated, the aspiration must be to ultimately deliver a High Growth scenario. We welcome the fact that these comments have been reflected in the preferred option and that the Council's are taking a positive approach to the future of this key location.
We also identified that the use of the airport and the potential for significant new business development is currently significantly constrained by a range of issues including the facilities, the scale of the runway and access to the airport itself. In order to fully address these issues in a sustainable manner, then the critical mass of development associated with a comprehensive approach is likely to be required.
The vision statement as set out is positive and the reference to the wider impacts on the Thames Gateway is welcomed. It is perhaps slightly surprising that there is no reference to the airport explicitly in the vision statement and this might be beneficially added. The objectives highlight the important economic role of the airport and para 2.3 onwards provides a real sense of the potential of the airport.
EEDA welcome the approach to the future of the area in employment terms and recognise that a pro-active role in encouraging employment for aviation related growth and targeting the delivery of accommodation for high tech industries and offices should maximise the role of this location as an economic driver for the sub-region. It is also positive to see these aspirations being balanced against a consideration of the environmental impacts of growth and the principles of sustainable place making which lie at the heart of the RES. However, in justifying the scale and nature of development proposed, the document could to be much clearer on the evidence of demand for airport based businesses and indeed, wider employment opportunities in this location. For example, reference to the Roger Tym & Partners work carried out in support of the Regeneration Framework and the Core Strategy might be appropriate.
EEDA welcome the fact that the JAAP has identified the location and distribution of employment development at the airport. In our previous comments we set out that consideration also needs to be given to potential conflicts between the different users of the airport, particularly given the aspirations to grow passenger numbers. Care must be taken to ensure that in maximising the benefits of additional passenger flights, the niche business opportunities at the airport such as the business flights and the maintenance / repair industries are not compromised. This appears to have been reflected in the preferred option and aviation oriented jobs have been largely grouped in one place with room for expansion. It is also good to see explicit support for the airport to continue to grow its maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities through policies MR01, 02 and 03.
The preferred option also includes reference to the more efficient and effective use of existing employment land at the airport. This will be a potentially key argument in terms of the justification for reviewing green belt and the allocation of additional land for development, as well as forming a key part of the sustainable credentials of the approach.
The JAAP rightly notes that the development of the preferred option will have environmental impacts on the local area and in particular, will require some reconsideration of green belt boundaries to the north. The provision of high quality open space and leisure facilities that not only act as a resource in themselves but also act as effective green infrastructure links such as that proposed to connect the country park, business parks and Rochford town centre will be an important element of the approach. Moreover, linked to the points above, a strong case linking demand to the requirement for green belt land will need to be made.
EEDA are happy to see that the JAAP is seeking to mitigate environmental impacts. The promotion of more fuel efficient planes, facilitated through the approach that includes an expanded runway is a particularly positive step in this regard as is the provision of significant open space. Key to success in this regard will be the ability to enforce these aspirations through the plan's implementation.
Goal 7 of the RES - Transport identifies the importance of increasing the economic benefits to the region of our international gateways whilst mitigating local impacts. Priority 2 of this Goal also identifies the importance of sustained economic investment for transport in key strategic corridors. Critically, this includes the A127 and A13. In addition, the recent TEES study carried out by EEDA also identifies this corridor as being of particular importance to the region in economic terms. EEDA broadly welcomes the approach to transport connectivity as set out in the JAAP. It appears to be a balanced response that marries the need for road investment with improvements to public transport, including a park and ride and SERT, and a commitment to green travel planning. However, the detailed implementation of the plan will be the test as to whether the sustainable travel patterns aspired to will be achieved. Importantly, the delivery of any rail improvements will need to be agreed with Network Rail.
If you would like to discuss any of these matters in further detail, please do not hesitate to contact me at the above address.
