Policy information sourced from the Mole Valley Local Plan
EC2: EMPLOYMENT AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Strategic Employment Areas
1. Within Strategic Employment Areas, as defined on the Policies Map, the Council will grant planning permission for office, research and development and light industry activities falling within Class E(g) (commercial, business and service), B2 (industrial and manufacturing) and B8 (storage and distribution) uses and for other similar office and industrial uses only. Changes of use from B2 and B8 to Class E will not be permitted unless compatible with the overall functioning of the area.
2. The Council will support the intensification of office and industrial uses within these locations, subject to there being no unacceptable impact on the surrounding highway network or local amenity.
Outside Strategic Employment Areas
3. Outside the Strategic Employment Areas office, research and development and light industrial activities falling within Class E(g) (commercial, business and service), B2 (industrial and manufacturing) and B8 (storage and distribution) uses and other similar office and industrial uses will be supported where:
- The type, scale and intensity of the proposed business activity is appropriate to the locality and accessibility of the site.
- The proposed use would not harm the amenity or operation of neighbouring uses.
4. Outside the Strategic Employment Areas, within the Built-Up Area, as defined on the Policies Map, the redevelopment of employment land to other uses (outside Classes E(g), B2 and B8) will be supported where the site has been allocated for an alternative use or where it can be demonstrated that:
- There is no reasonable prospect of the site remaining in employment use;
- Opportunities to reconfigure or reuse the site to retain its current use have been exhausted; and,
- The site has been actively but unsuccessfully marketed for 12-month period at a reasonable market value with a recognised agent.
For more information please see the Mole Valley Local Plan