Core Strategy Preferred Options document - Amazon Web Services

Strategies, Activities and Actions – Economic Development
The Vision: In five
years....
An Employment Land
Review has been
carried out and we are
using the findings of
this to ascertain future
employment provision
to meet the District’s
needs, and to assist in
identifying alternative
locations for old and
poorly located
employment parks
which are no longer fit
for purpose.
The Vision: In five
years....
The long term future of
the wharfage at Baltic
Wharf as an
employment area has
been secured.
The potential of
London Southend
Airport and its environs
is beginning to take
shape through
provision of a Joint
Area Action Plan in
partnership with
Southend Borough
Council.
Economic Development
Introduction
Our approach to economic development is focused on developing
existing spatial patterns of employment, providing higher level
employment and seeking to realise the economic potential of London
Southend Airport.
Rochford District is a generally prosperous part of the country, despite
only a modest share of resident ‘knowledge workers’, the typically higher
paid employees.
There are a number of opportunities for economic development in the
District, for example London Southend Airport has the potential to provide
significant economic growth, including, but not exclusively, around
aviation-related industries. Further to this, there is an entrepreneurial
culture within the District; and the District is part of the Thames Gateway
– a national priority for regeneration and growth.
In the past, employment allocations for the District were quantified in
terms of the amount of land to be set aside for employment purposes.
The East of England Plan instead specifies the number of jobs each subregion
must provide. Rochford District is within the Thames Gateway subregion
and must provide 3000 new jobs during the plan period. It is
anticipated that a significant proportion of these jobs can be
accommodated as part of the growth around London Southend Airport
and the District is in the process of producing a Joint Area Action Plan
with Southend Borough Council to ensure that the airport’s potential is
fully realised.
There are a multitude of physical constraints within the District that
restrict opportunities for employment growth. The two primary constraints
are the rural nature of the District together with the limited transport links
– both issues are more prevalent in the east of the District. Our approach
to rural diversification is set out in the Green Belt section of the Core
Strategy and the approach to transportation issues in Transport.
There are a number of areas within the District which are currently
allocated specifically for employment purposes and are protected from
development which would undermine their role in generating
employment. We consider it necessary to review these allocations,
particularly in light of changes to the economy and the decline of the
manufacturing sector. Some sites currently allocated for employment
may be better utilised as residential or mixed-use, reducing the need to
release Green Belt for housing, or, where appropriately located,
alternative employment or community uses other than industrial ones.
We examined these issues in depth through the production of an
Employment Land Study. The study provides the following:
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