Driving Economic Growth through Local Development Orders

Businesses often cite the complexity and risk involved in the English planning system as a barrier to investment. However, the English planning system already contains mechanisms to address these concerns. Local Development Order (LDOs) provide a practical solution by simplifying planning processes, reducing uncertainty, and enhancing the attractiveness of development sites for investors. By streamlining regulations and promoting efficient decision-making, LDOs contribute to unlocking brownfield potential while minimizing risks for businesses. 

Background

The Gravity site, a 616-acre former Royal Ordnance Facility, was officially closed in 2008 at the heart of the recession. Recognising the need for regeneration, Sedgemoor District Council began working with BAE Systems, the  landowners at the time, to stimulate market interest and attract investment. However, traditional planning tools and strategies proved ineffective in delivering the desired outcomes due to the site’s size, complexity, and the local economy's restructuring phase.

Challenges

The area faced acute challenges such as the need for strategic flood defence infrastructure, severe deprivation in certain areas, and job losses due to several major employers closing. The site’s allocation in the draft Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) and efforts to work with the South West Regional Development Agency (RDA) were declined.

Approach

Given the economic conditions, Sedgemoor District Council adopted an economic development-driven vision for the area, which then drove strategic corporate and planning policy. This approach aimed at tackling structural economic issues around skills, ambition, jobs, and economic restructuring to create jobs for the future. The visioning exercise took a long-term perspective, extending to 2050, to take it out of local plan cycles and election cycles.

Implementation

The site was an integral part of the Bridgwater Vision, and was included in  the local plan, allowing it to be allocated for economic development. It was a key driver of   the corporate strategy, local plan and the economic development strategy, marking it as a key transformational project. A Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) was also written to stimulate market interest. The site was designated as an Enterprise Zone with Government and County Council support. Planning consent was granted for a speculative energy park project aligned to the SPD. A remediation consent was secured to allow demolition and decontamination of the site in advance of the actual outline consent. Funding was secured for the link road, which not only opened up the site in terms of capacity but also acted as a bypass for one of the nearby villages. A Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) was adopted, negotiated, and concluded relatively quickly with full Council and private sector support, to deal with a landowner who was refusing to cooperate.

Outcome

Despite these efforts, none of the steps taken were sufficient to stimulate market interest for a large-scale commercial site of any great quality. It wasn’t until Salamanca Group expressed interest in the site and presented a clean growth vision about transforming the site that progress was made. This aligned perfectly with the council’s vision, marking a significant step towards realizing the economic development strategy. The Council focus on deliverability and a culture of being pro-business, pro-growth, pro-development, and pro-solutions from top to bottom were key to the success of the project.

Role of Local Development Orders (LDOs)

Salamanca as the client repositioned the site within a global marketplace, and a key destination for international investment in the UK, focused on accelerating responses to climate change. Stantec, a multidisciplinary consultancy, provided lead consultant support for Gravity on the project, supported by a wider team including LDA, Ecology Solutions and Womble Bond Dickenson.

The Stantec team had extensive experience and knowledge of Local Development Orders (LDOs), having worked on a number of them and had  written the Planning Advisory Service advice note on LDOs. The LDO was scoped to be as extensive as possible, planning for many different scenarios. It was more flexible than an outline application as it set parameters for development but did not restrict the investor to a specific use. The LDO was adopted by the council’s executive, making it a simplified form of planning to be implemented through a compliance process.

• The LDO played a crucial role in attracting international investment. Both an American company and the current investor have stated that the LDO was the single most important factor in their investment decision. The LDO allowed for the sale of 75% of the gross development area to one commercial occupier for a gigafactory.

Importantly the culture of collaboration and teamwork with the Council, statutory consultees, as well as the community, to develop the vision and turn it into reality, particularly during and post pandemic, has been an exemplary achievement.

Conclusion

The use of an LDO at the Gravity site has proven to be a successful strategy in attracting significant international  investment and facilitating economic development to transform the economy of this part of Somerset and the Southwest. It has allowed for a more complex and longer-term strategy to be implemented quickly and in the short term once the investor as secured, focusing on clean and transformational growth. The LDO has been a key tool in making the Gravity site ready for investment and will continue to play a crucial role in its future development.

Find out more

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Planning for growth

Read the CBI’s Planning for Growth report which outlines key priorities for planning reform to drive growth in the UK economy. Focused on three areas:

• Resourcing the Planning System: Ensuring adequate resources are allocated to the planning system.
• Streamlining and Accelerating Planning: Simplifying processes to speed up planning approvals.
• Prioritizing Strategic Planning for Growth: Emphasizing strategic planning to deliver economic growth.