UKWA and Logistics UK react to planning update

UK WAREHOUSING Association chief executive Clare Bottle has expressed disappointment that despite a comprehensive and forceful response to the recent NPPF consultation, there is scant provision for warehousing in the Updated Policy Framework.

Nonetheless, she welcomed the ‘small gains’, particularly the requirement that planning policies and decisions should recognise and address the specific locational requirements of different sector. This includes making provision for ‘storage and distribution operations at a variety of scales and in suitably accessible locations’.

Other positives include the proposal to identify 'grey belt' land within the Green Belt to bring forward areas of lower environmental value for development. This could provide additional land for warehousing and logistics operations, especially in regions where land availability is constrained.

Clare comments: “Expanding the definition of brownfield land and promoting higher density in urban areas may lead to more opportunities for redeveloping underutilised sites into logistics hubs, enhancing supply chain efficiency. However, requiring local authorities to adhere to a mandatory standard method for assessing housing needs could intensify competition for available land between residential and industrial uses, potentially limiting space for warehousing and logistics developments.

“Overall, the gains for our sector are relatively small, but we will continue to engage with government to make the voice of warehousing heard and our sector’s needs more fully understood.”

Optimism

Logistics UK has reacted with optimism to the updated framework, as it recognised the importance of logistics developments to the economy for the first time. The business group is also urging planners to understand that the logistics sector is vital to the delivery of all the new housing the government wants to see.

“The government’s instruction to planners to support the economy by identifying suitable locations for freight and logistics is a significant step forward for our sector,” says Jonathan Walker, Logistics UK’s head of infrastructure and planning policy, who adds: “It is also good news that the updated NPPF calls for local planners to have regard to industries of national importance and national industrial strategy, to support economic growth.”

Walker continues, “As new houses are delivered, planners must ensure that they have the supportive systems that they need to be part of sustainable communities. This includes enabling the logistics sector to provide the facilities required to serve homes, as well as hospitals, offices and schools, with the goods they need, when they need them.”

You can see the updated NPPF here