Feasibility Study for the Industrial Area - Part 1 (PDF 5 MB)

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3. Property and Development: Overview of Current Situation An analysis of property supply and market trends is outside the scope of this study. The following overview, providing background information, is based on the March 2003 Walker Riverside – Supply and Demand Study, updated by the information provided by the businesses interviewed as part of the information gathering stage (see Chapter 2). A strategic assessment of the potential future position of Walker Riverside is included, in addition, in Section 2 of this report, to provide a foundation to the development of strategic options for the the area. 3.1 Summary Market Outlook The Walker Riverside has the ambition of developing as a cluster of marine and offshore industries (see Chapter 5, Planning Policy Audit). This sector of the industrial market is a global one, with very strong competition, with countries that can manufacture products cheaper (the Far East for instance) winning large portions of the market share. Moreover, traditional, labour intensive sectors (shipbuilding, oil and gas production) are in long term decline, with virtually only MOD commissions still available in the UK. Other newer, and knowledge intensive, industries in the offshore and renewable sectors are, however, still growing. - Shipbuilding: Japan, South Korea and China share around 76% of the global market, while the EU captures about 10%, particularly in high value/ small scale production. Of this the UK has only around a (progressively decreasing) 1%. The sector, however, is a major employer (approx. 423,000 jobs in 2002, including the Royal Navy, compared for example with 297,000 jobs in agriculture). - Offshore oil and gas: despite the fact that the UK is a major gas and oil producer, there is a marked downward trend. Oil rig construction has virtually halted and has been supplanted by floating platforms. The sector supports 104,000 jobs directly and 161,000 indirectly (2002 data). - Renewable energy: it is a small proportion of the energy market (around 3% in the UK), but an expanding one. Europe is the main market for renewable energy and the UK Government has a target of 10.4% energy supplied by renewables by 2010/11. It is likely that UK production growth will concentrate on offshore sites. - Subsea cabling and technologies: fabrication of umbilicals, subsea piping, cables and other floorlines is global, with a limited number of companies with plants all over the world. The sector is much specialised and rapidly growing. There is a risk, however, of sudden over supply as happened with the collapse of subsea telecommunication cabling in 2000. 3.2 Competitiveness of Walker Riverside Walker Riverside is predominantly occupied by companies of the marine/offshore-related sector. The key industries of the sector have global operations and could advantageously locate in many other areas in the world. Tyneside, however, has a cluster of such industries and is one of the strongest of the UK. As such, it enjoys policy support. In the UK, competition is limited to few areas: - Teesside, mainly associated with Corus and petrochemical/ chemical industries and Teesport, a substantial container and bulk good terminal; - the Clyde, serving essentially BAE Systems shipbuilding; - Aberdeen, serving the oil and gas industries, but also developing in research, design and development in two Technology Parks; - Belfast, where the main yard, Harland and Wolff employs less than 500 people; - Portsmouth and Southampton, with storng connections with the Ministry of Defence, but increasingly diversifying into electronics, mechanical engineering and research; the Regional Development Agency (SEEDA) has encouraged the creation of knowledge intensive enterprise hubs on the South Coast; - Limited marine sector industries at the Firth of Forth, Barrow on Furness, Mersey. The main advantage of the Walker Riverside is its long history of marine and offshore industry, which is part of the Tyneside cluster and recognised by strategic policy. There is also an established image and working tradition. Other more specific advantages identified by the 2003 Property Study and through the interviews with local businesses are: - The availability of a 1000m long deep water quay, with heavy lifting capacity, which is an essential requirement for the large companies; - The presence of Duco and Wellstream, which generate a sizeable demand of supplies from other local manufacturers; - The presence of complementary and competing industries and the “cluster effect”; - The relatively good strategic accessibility; - The availability of sites capable of accommodating significantly sized businesses; - The availability of skilled workforce within the Region (not always locally); and, very importantly, - The availability of grants and incentives in some instances, which counterbalanced the otherwise relative expensive accommodation. 10 Colin Buchanan
www.cbuchanan.co.uk Fig. 3.1 - Industry Type N Marine/ offshore industries Marine/ offshore vacant/underutilised sites Non industrial uses Potential change to non industrial Walker Riverside Feasibility Study Section 1 - p. 11
Page 1 and 2: Walker Riverside Feasibility Study
Page 3: Section 1: Baseline Audit..........
Page 6 and 7: Fig. 1.1 - Study Area N A&P Tyne Fi
Page 8 and 9: 4 Colin Buchanan
Page 10 and 11: 2. Consultation Meetings As part of
Page 12 and 13: Fig. 2.1 - Business Interviews Summ
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Page 18 and 19: Fig. 3.3 - Building types N Recent
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Page 24 and 25: 5. Planning Policy Audit This secti
Page 26 and 27: Housing Strategy Housing provision
Page 28 and 29: Fig. 5.1 - UDP policy map Proposed
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Page 38 and 39: each other whilst negotiating the j
Page 40 and 41: 7. Urban Design Audit 7.1 General E
Page 42 and 43: 7.3 Character The industrial Walker
Page 44 and 45: It has a variety of building types,
Page 46 and 47: 42 Colin Buchanan
Page 48 and 49: 8. Baseline Key Issues This section
Page 50 and 51: Fig. 8.1 - Issues N Old and dilapid

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