How Will Employment Need Be Addressed?
Barnsley requires additional employment land to meet the needs of its growing population.
Barnsley is within the top 50 of the most deprived authority areas in England. The latest labour statistics (Nomis/ONS, 2012) indicate that Barnsley has an unemployment rate of 9.1%, which is above the Yorkshire & the Humber average of 8.4% and significantly above the Great Britain average of 6.8%.
For males, this is significantly higher at 12.2% compared to the regional (9%) and national (7.1%) averages. There is a jobs density of 0.53 jobs per number of population aged 16-64, compared to a regional average of 0.73 and national average of 0.78; a significant disparity.
To address the issue, the Council has agree an economic growth strategy that seeks by 2033 to at least be comparable to the rest of Yorkshire & the Humber. The Economic Strategy states that there is a need for an additional 25,000 jobs to just reach the Yorkshire & Humber average and 32,000 jobs to meet the national average.
It is clear that in recent years, neighbouring authorities have been providing new employment floorspace at a far greater rate than Barnsley and so the gap may widen further without intervention. Those authorities have made best use of their motorway frontages on the M1, M18 and M62.
To meet these significant targets, there needs to be a strategic approach to provide additional land for employment premises that can be delivered (not simply just allocated). To achieve this the Council needs to identify a range of sites in a variety of locations to meet all scales of employment and to respond to market demand and changes in economic conditions.
The Draft Local Plan is seeking to allocate 306 Ha to deliver 17,500 additional jobs over and above the estimated ‘normal’ rate of job growth. This includes approximately 50 ha of employment land at Barnsley West.
Barnsley West is an important strategic site located adjacent to the M1 motorway. This is a key frontage for Barnsley that has not been utilised. The site presents an appropriate and sustainable opportunity for deliverable employment land and buildings as part of a sustainable mixed use urban extension. The development will be linked to provision of the strategic highway.
This is a key site that will provide a significant proportion of the Council’s employment land requirement.