Policy information sourced from Windsor and Maidenhead Local Plan
ED 3 Other Sites and Loss of Employment Floorspace
Other Sites
Development proposals for employment on sites currently in employment use will be supported.
Development proposals for employment development on sites currently used for non-employment purposes will be considered on their merits. Where benefits arising from the proposed use would exceed the benefit of retaining the existing use, the development proposal will be supported.
Loss of Employment Floorspace
Where a change is proposed from an economic use to another use, development proposals must provide credible and robust evidence of an appropriate period of marketing for economic use and that the proposals would not cause unacceptable harm to the local economy. A further consideration to be taken into account will be the significance to the local economy of the use to be lost.
Marketing evidence should prove that both the land and the premises have been widely advertised and marketed for a wide range of economic uses for at least one continuous year immediately prior to submission of a relevant planning application. The exercise should be formally agreed with the Local Planning Authority prior to its commencement and demonstrate that the price and terms on which the land or premises were marketed were reasonable by comparison with similar examples in the local area. See Appendix D for marketing evidence details which will be used to assess the acceptability, or otherwise, of the information submitted and the marketing undertaken.
Information should be provided detailing any interest received from potential buyers or tenants since the marketing commence. Where interest has been received and that interest has not been pursued, this must be explained. The requirement for marketing evidence applies when a proposal is made that would result in the loss of an economic use or a net reduction in the quantity of employment land or premises.
Marketing evidence will be assessed within the context of:
- the overall quality of the site as an employment location
- the level of occupation/vacancy of the site
- consideration of the suitability of conversion for start-up and micro businesses
- whether the employment use generates any adverse impacts on the adjoining are
- possible benefits from relocating the economic use; possible benefits from using the site for alternative uses
- the achievement of other plan objectives.
Marketing evidence will need to address the demand from both the freehold and leasehold markets – reflecting the fact that the dynamics of the two markets may differ.
For more information please see the Local Plan