Elliot Peters 130221410 TCP2025 Assignment 1; Word Count: 2748

A critical review of Employment Space and Affordable

Housing for Employment in Northumberland

Introduction

This essay will review four key findings from Chapter 4 of the Taylor Review which will firstly be

summarised below before being compared to Northumberland County Council’s upcoming Core

Strategy document, in the context of rural Northumberland’s specific circumstances. For the

purpose of this essay, the rural areas of the county that will fuel the discussion will be the North,

West and Central delivery areas, including the important towns of Berwick, Alnwick, Morpeth,

Amble, Hexham, Ponteland and Prudhoe, and the open countryside that surrounds them.

Findings from the Taylor Report (2008)

Finding 1: Promote all businesses in all rural locations

The review claimed that rural and urban economies now share a similar business mix as a result of

geographical barriers being broken (DCLG, 2008). There have been calls for a realignment of rural

and urban planning principles (Curry and Owen, 2009) to eliminate the stereotype of rural areas

being dominated by traditional industries such as agriculture (DCLG, 2008). Curry and Owen (2009)

claim that business mixes allows rural areas to have broad economic bases; Taylor adds that there is

not yet enough economic diversification in rural areas, which is a key driver for the out-migration of

young people to urban areas. He also discusses how the increased use of ICT in rural business es

should allow planning policy to encourage mixed-use developments as the negatives associated with employment spaces are not a product of ICT-based industries (DCLG, 2008).

He warns of the ‘sustainability trap’, whereby a narrow approach to sustainable development

restricts residential and economic development in rural areas, resulting in less choice for businesses wanting to locate or grow in these areas (Ibid).

Finding 2: Maintain the supply of sites and premises

Taylor explains how enterprise is not just about firm creation, but also business growth – and

blockages in the planning system can prevent growth by reducing the availability of suitable

premises, preventing rural areas and businesses from living up to their economic potentials. He also

adds that providing suitable employment spaces for rural businesses is important; rural businesses

are usually small and cannot utilise large units on industrial parks designed for long-term tenants

(Ibid).

Taylor also mentions how a flexible approach is needed towards the conversion of farm buildings

and farm diversification, as the re-use of old facilities can provide premises for small rural

enterprises. Policy should also have a positive approach towards extensions and alterations, which

may be needed to achieve a businesses’ commercial viability.

Finding 3: Better support for small and home-based businesses

Taylor discusses how providing employment space for small and home -based businesses encourages

their growth; the report found that 65% of businesses expect home-based working to become

Elliot Peters 130221410 TCP2025 Assignment 1; Word Count: 2748

commonplace in the future, while 73% suggest a work-life balance will be the key to job choice (Ibid).

Taylor insists that a way to prevent cramped, poor working environments at home is to loosen policy

surrounding the extensions of existing homes for commercial uses; the review found that there is a

lack of support from Local Authorities to grant permission for these types of extensions, even when

there is generally support for most living space extensions, l inking to the outdated view that commercial buildings create negative environmental impacts (Ibid).

Finding 4: More affordable homes for employment

Taylor states that the average incomes in rural areas are £7000 less per year than in urban areas,

and 28% of jobs are low paid in most rural areas, compared to 18% in urban areas. Housing

developments should therefore be interlinked with employment opportunities (Ibid), and Curry and

Owen (2009) add that housing policies should support the local employment base, which will in turn

support rural services.

Characteristics of Rural Northumberland

Characteristics of rural firms

Northumberland is England’s most rural county (Northumberland County Council, 2012) however

there are geographical variations in each service area which affects the spatial variations of the

county’s firms.

The North attracts small businesses as the market is localised; large national businesses are opposed

to investing due to the small workforce available (Northumberland County Council, 2011). The

Northumberland Coast AONB creates opportunities for tourism, which is a major seasonal employer,

while agriculture and fishing also contribute to the local economies. The rural West and Central

areas again provide seasonal jobs in the tourism industry, along with other traditional industries

such as forestry and agriculture. The key service town of Morpeth is the main employment centre

for the County with many public sector and administrative jobs, while Hexham is an important

centre for the local agricultural industry. The service towns of Hexham, Morpeth, Prudhoe, Ponteland, Berwick and Alnwick have industrial estates. (Northumberland County Council, 2013).

Characteristics and spatial variations of rural employment space

The Employment Land Review highlights that many of rural Northumberland’s available employment

sites located outside of the main rural service towns have restricted user demand, and only serve

local markets; this is largely due to their poor access and remoteness. Because of the local markets,

demand is sporadic and take up is low. A shortage of small and cheap industrial units in Berwick to

cater for the localised market there has been identified; this relates to another concern that there

was not enough land available in the town that was affordable for local businesses. Demand at

Hotspur Court in Alnwick has suggested that again there is a shortage of smaller workshop-sized units and small office spaces in the town (Northumberland County Council, 2011).

A major constriction on employment space around Hexham, Ponteland and Prudhoe is the Green

Belt; this has created an under supply of land (just over 18ha in the West Service Area) (Ibid). This

creates a further issue: landowners are “often pursuing alternative, higher value uses for the site(s)”

(Northumberland County Council, 2011: 6) – using their land to develop housing rather than

employment space, to make a larger return.

Elliot Peters 130221410 TCP2025 Assignment 1; Word Count: 2748

Another constraint on the supply of employment space in Hexham is that it is ‘supply led’ – meaning

that the units would have to be completed before interest would be expressed; this causes problems

as developers are unable to see the potential demand, discouraging speculative development

(Northumberland County Council, 2011).

Likely changing requirements

The main potential for economic growth in the future will come from ICT and Creative

Industries/Media, where tranquil rural locations could be pull factors. However, in the case of ICT

industries, Northumberland is not seen to have any advantages over similar rural areas; the resulting

aim is to generate growth of indigenous businesses and develop new small businesses in this sector

instead of attracting new businesses. For Creative and Media industries, the nature of the jobs could

mean there is a potential for live/work units or working from home, especially in attractive rural

areas. Both these industries are forecast for low to moderate growth, meaning the demand will be sporadic (Northumberland County Council, 2011).

In terms of the most rural areas, the Employment Land Review has suggested that no B-Class

Allocations should be formally allocated because of the probable sporadic nature of the future

demand in rural locations, and that the needs of these businesses should be met through more flexible policy-based support for conversions and extensions of existing buildings ( Ibid).

Growth of manufacturing industries in Northumberland will again come from the expansion of

existing firms, however there is a low/medium rate of growth forecast; this is due to competition

from abroad and a lack of high-quality business premises failing to attract larger employers to the county (Ibid).

Current and future provisions of Affordable Housing

There are affordability pressures across rural parts of Northumberland and 30% of people surveyed

stated a lack of affordable rented housing as their reason for being prevented from a desired move

(Northumberland County Council, 2012). In Central Northumberland, house prices are high due to

previous planning policies constricting development with low housing targets. Additionally in North

Northumberland, house prices are high and combined with having the county’s lowest average

incomes, the access to affordable housing for employees in this area is challenging.

(Northumberland County Council, 2013). The Strategic Housing Market Assessment stresses that in

the future, the more rural North and West areas will require much higher social rent levels

(Northumberland County Council, 2013); this will better support rural employees and help to

improve sustainability.

Affordable Housing will be provided by the Private Sector through geographically-varying affordable

housing target levels for developments; it is important that private sector developers are able

provide affordable housing close to rural employers to help achieve sustainability. This requires a

flexible approach towards housing land allocation and affordable housing policy in rural parts of the county to entice developers into developing houses.

Elliot Peters 130221410 TCP2025 Assignment 1; Word Count: 2748

Key Choices made in the Core Strategy

Vision

The Core Strategy outlines how by 2031 Northumberland will be a “competitive place to start, grow and invest in a broad range of businesses” (Northumberland County Council, 2013: ?)

Affordable Housing for Employment

The Stage 2 Preferred Options Document discloses how the South-East of the county will receive the

lowest affordable housing targets while the more rural Central, North and Western areas will receive

the highest targets (Northumberland County Council, 2013); this initially suggests that the Council is

aiming to increase the amount of affordable housing stock in the most rural parts of the county to

support low-paid employees in these areas. However the amount of homes being projected in the

South East is significantly bigger than in the other three service areas, suggesting that the South East

is likely to see the highest number of affordable homes throughout the delivery period, despite

having smaller targets of affordable homes per development (See Table 1.0).

Service Area % of Affordable Housing Target

Number of Affordable Homes Projected by 2031

South East 25% 3205 Central 30% 1881

North 35% 1309 West 35% 518

Table 1.0 – Affordable Housing Target per Development and Number of Affordable Homes projected by Service Area

(Northumberland County Council, 2013)

The delivery of affordable housing prioritises on-site provision (Northumberland County Council,

2012) – this is especially important in more rural parts of the county where the wages are typically low and affordable housing nearby employment is in greatest need.

Employment Space

Policy 14 ‘Rural Economy’ seeks to promote economic development outside of the key service

centres outlined in Policy 2 of the Stage 1 Preferred Options Document (Northumberland County

Council, 2012).

The Local Authority encourages the use of existing buildings for economic development; they will

only accept proposals for new buildings where conversions or extensions would be economically

unviable (Northumberland County Council, 2012). Policy 1 of the Stage 2 Preferred Options

Document states that over 63% of land reserved for B1, B2 and B8 development is in the South East,

however further ‘built sites’ are located across more rural parts of the county (Northumbe rland

County Council, 2013), further suggesting that the Council is trying to promote the re-use of built sites.

Moreover, there is support for home-based businesses through conversions or providing new

outbuildings providing that there is no adverse impact on nearby dwellings. In terms of farm

diversification, agriculture is to be maintained as the farm’s main function, supporting the agriculture industry (Northumberland County Council, 2012).

Elliot Peters 130221410 TCP2025 Assignment 1; Word Count: 2748 Tourism

Policy 15 of the Stage 1 Preferred Options Document focusses tourism within the centres of main

towns and service centres. Similarly to Policy 14, Policy 15 mentions how the re-use of existing

buildings should be prioritised, and new build development should be a last resort. There is also a

clear focus to avoid disturbing Northumberland’s ‘natural assets’. (Northumberland County Council, 2012).

Conclusion

The realignment of rural planning principles and the broadening of economic bases from traditional

industries called for by Taylor speak generally about England, however Northumberland has many

assets which attract tourists such as the Coastal AONB which the Core Strategy positively seeks to

take advantage of. But, the Core Strategy does not support tourism in all rural areas as Taylor

advises. Different areas of the county have different development needs and some areas (the far

West, for example) will be more sensitive to tourism-based development than others. Directing the

majority of tourism-based development to the main service centres is too much of a generalisation

and specific local needs need to be addressed.

A criticism of the Core Strategy is that it does not use policy tools to address issues of economic

diversification in all rural areas. The vision states how the Local Authority will “grow and invest in a

broad range of businesses”, however there is nothing in Policy 14 outlining how they will promote

economic diversification outside of the key service centres, revealing an implementation gap

between the vision and policy. The main sectors for growth (ICT and Creative/Media) are likely to

want to locate in rural locations, so this needs to be addressed in order to support diversified rural

economies, helping to reduce the out-migration of young people. There is also a lack of clarity in the

Core Strategy about which specific areas require the broadest economic bases (a.k.a. which have the

greatest need for diversification, which areas have declining industries); policy needs to address this in more detail so that economic development serves speci fic, local needs.

The Core Strategy fails to promote Taylor’s idea of the mixed-use developments in rural areas; one

of the future sectors of growth in Northumberland is ICT (which does not pollute), making mixed-use

developments involving ICT Businesses and residential properties more viable, and these

developments would help to support local services in the most rural areas of the county. The Core

Strategy fails to promote the potential of mixed-use developments in rural areas to the private sector, making their development unlikely.

In terms of farm diversification, the core strategy is not flexible – the farm still has to maintain its

main agricultural function. However whereas the Taylor report is not location-specific, the Core

Strategy is; agriculture is still crucial to some Northumberland communities, therefore supporting

this sector is important. However, the core strategy could be more location-specific; so allowing

more diversification in rural areas where agriculture is not as primitive, to all ow for greater

economic growth and diversification, or in areas where there are greater development pressures such as the Green Belt.

The Core Strategy supports the re-use of existing buildings outside of the main service centres; this

provides rural employment spaces which are usually small in size, supporting the growing small-

business sectors of ICT and Creative/Media, as well as the tourism industry, and again helping to address employment land issues in constricted Green Belt areas.

Elliot Peters 130221410 TCP2025 Assignment 1; Word Count: 2748

The re-use of buildings also promotes sustainability: they support the localised, remote rural

markets where demand in these sectors will be modest. This focus of the rural economic

development policy on the re-use of existing buildings means there is an adequate, self-sufficient

supply of land with no extra employment land needing to be zoned, unlike the service centres

(especially the South-East) whose demands are increased and can only be addressed by allocating

employment land. It could be argued that the Core Strategy successfully manages the supply of

employment space and sites by focussing on the needs of specific locations, and limiting tourism -

based development largely to the re-use of existing buildings (to protect the scenery which attracts the tourists in the first place), thus avoiding the ‘sustainability trap’.

The Core Strategy maintains a flexible approach towards conversions, extensions and alterations,

which supports the concerns of Taylor, promoting the provision of small and cheap solutions for

businesses seeking to grow - helping rural areas live up to their economic potentials - as well as

easing development pressures in the Green Belt. The Core Strategy also supports home -based

businesses in the most rural areas through providing forward-thinking policy solutions to

conversions and provisions of out-buildings, further supporting the growth of new and current businesses.

Despite providing affordable housing targets for developments in the Central, West and North

delivery areas, there will still be more affordable housing stock in the South-East by 2031; it could be

argued that the Policy-makers have failed to provide a supply of adequate affordable housing stock

to support the local employment bases, most notably in North Northumberland where prices are

high and wages are low, but similarly in the Central and West areas. In turn this fails to support

Northumberland’s Tourism industries, whose employees will look for affordable rented

accommodation to cater for the seasonal, low-paid nature of the jobs – again Policy needs to realise

the specific needs of individual areas, such as promoting more affordable rental properties in the North and West.

Elliot Peters 130221410 TCP2025 Assignment 1; Word Count: 2748

Bibliography

Curry, N. and Owen, S. (2009), Rural Planning in England, Town Planning Review, 86(2), 575-594

Northumberland County Council (2011), Employment Land Review, Northumberland County Council

Northumberland County Council (2013), Draft Strategic Housing Market Assessment Update and Delivery-Area Report, Northumberland County Council

Northumberland County Council (2012), Northumberland County Wide Housing Needs Survey Final

Report 2012 Version 10.07.13, Northumberland County Council

Northumberland County Council (2012), Stage 1 Core Strategy Preferred Options

Northumberland County Council (2013), Stage 2 Core Strategy Preferred Options for Housing, Employment and Green Belt, Northumberland County Council

Taylor, M. (2008), Living Working Countryside, London, DCLG