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ID sylw: 108023

Derbyniwyd: 07/03/2025

Ymatebydd: CEG Land Promotion III (UK) Limited

Asiant : Nexus Planning

CEG support the suggested retention of the allocation of land to the north/rear of the AML’s HQ to enable small scale expansion of their existing facility.
CEG are also pleased to see that the Gaydon Area/M40 Junction 12 has been identified as a Major Investment Site and support its inclusion. However, CEG do have serious concerns about restricting the uses that could be accommodated on site. The subtext for the Draft Policy Direction states that “Whilst well-located to the M40, this location is not seen as appropriate for strategic logistic uses (i.e. Use Class B8).” This statement in itself is considered contradictory and fails to take into consideration market demand and the importance of logistics on manufacturing, in particular the automotive sector.
It is also considered that restrictions proposed are counter to that of paragraph 86 b) of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which states that planning policies should “pay particular regard to facilitating development to meet the needs of a modern economy, including by identifying suitable locations for uses such as laboratories, gigafactories, data centres, digital infrastructure, freight and logistics”
Furthermore, paragraph 87 of the NPPF is clear that planning policies and decisions should recognise and address the specific locational requirements of different sectors. In particular provisions should be made for storage and distribution operations at a variety of scales and in suitably accessible locations that allow for the efficient and reliable handling of goods, especially where this is needed to support the supply chain, transport innovation and decarbonisation. Junction 12 by virtue of its location is considered an appropriate location for strategic B8 use.
The importance of logistics to the automotive sector should not be understated. The automotive industry heavily relies on automotive logistics to manage the complex supply chain involved in the production and delivery of vehicles. In this regard, they are considered synonymous and provision of B8 in this location would support existing sectors, particularly the automotive cluster at Gaydon.
In view of the above, it is considered that the strategic B8 restriction should be removed from Policy Direction 14.