Yes

ID sylw: 108301

Derbyniwyd: 07/03/2025

Ymatebydd: Indurent Propco A3 Ltd

Asiant : Turley

Indurent Propco A3 Ltd (‘Indurent’) raises no concerns in principle with the new settlement proposals for Long Marston
Airfield (ref. E1), which incorporates the Meon Vale Business Park. Allocation of this area in the new local plan should create
a presumption that the redevelopment of the Business Park for residential use would be acceptable in principle. The wording
of the relevant policy would need to ensure that any other policies in the emerging plan which resist the loss of existing
employment land would not apply in the determination of future planning applications.
Indurent would encourage the councils to consider how the new settlement could deliver new employment floorspace on
the undeveloped parcels of land to offset the likely future loss of the Meon Vale Business Park. Delivering employment
floorspace on greenfield land is much more viable economically. Locating these floorspace further north, closer to the land
earmarked for a future train station, would also create a much more sustainable development offering public modes of
transport.

About the Site in E1:

Introduction to Indurent
These representations are submitted on behalf of Indurent Propco A3 Ltd (‘Indurent’). Indurent are one of the UK's leading
providers of industrial and logistics warehousing, with a range of light industrial, mid and big box spaces. Blackstone
established Indurent in July 2024 by bringing together St Modwen Logistics and Industrials REIT.
As part of this merger, Indurent incorporated Meon Vale Business Park into its portfolio. It is the freehold owner of the site
and currently rents out floorspace for industrial, distribution and storage uses.
Background to Meon Vale Business Park
Following the closure of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) Engineers Depot in 1999, the wider Meon Vale site was subject to
several planning applications for temporary use for commercial purposes.
St. Modwen Developments acquired the depot in 2004 and subsequently secured planning permission for two major
schemes of residential-led mixed-use development (which covered four phases of residential development).
Phases 1 – 3 of the Meon Vale redevelopment was approved as part of a hybrid planning permission granted in February
2010 (LPA ref. 09/00835/FUL). The outline element of the permission comprised the creation of a leisure village, holiday
homes, central leisure facilities, and up to 500 dwellings. Meon Vale Business Park was included within the full element of
this application. Permission was granted for “the retention of use of 80,374 sqm of existing industrial floor space and
associated hardstanding for Class B1(a), B1(c) and B8 uses, together with the retention of an existing trade vehicle auction use
(use class sui generis)”. The existing operations on the employment element of the site have been carried out under the
provisions of this, and subsequent, planning permissions.
Meon Vale Business Park measures around 30 hectares and comprises approximately 900,000 sqft of warehouse / industrial
and office space supplemented by a significant area of hardstanding. The site is bordered to the north by woodland / green
space, to the east and south by residential properties, and to the west by the Long Marston Rail Innovation Centre (formerly
referred to as the ‘rail loop’ and Quinton Rail Technology Centre (QRTC)).
The vast majority of the site is located within Flood Zone 1 of the EA Flood Map, confirming that flood risk is not a significant
constraint to the development of the site. There are no notable statuary designations, heritage designations or listed
buildings within or in the immediate vicinity of the site. Furthermore, the site is not in the Green Belt and is located outside
the Cotswolds National Landscape.

Future of Meon Vale Business Park
The Business Park is reasonably well-occupied with current leases running through to 2028/29. However, the buildings are
falling into a state of disrepair. The units were constructed decades ago as part of the sites previous use as a Ministry of
Defence depot and are coming to the end of their economic life. Refurbishing the units is not a viable option for Indurent as
the costs will far exceed the future rental values (due to historic issues with asbestos etc). Accordingly, the buildings will
continue to deteriorate in the short to medium term.

Added to this, the site is unlikely to attract high-end occupiers given its location. The site lies a significant distance from the
strategic highway network (over 30-minute drive to the M5 and M40) and is accessed from an unclassified road of residential
character (Wellington Avenue) which leads from a single lane carriageway B-road (Campden Road).
Therefore, Indurent will need to begin looking at options for developing the site. Otherwise, the likelihood is the site will be
become vacant well before the new South Warwickshire Local Plan (SWLP) period expires in 2050.
The current use of the site is generally for storage and distribution, with the majority of the site leased to Ford for vehicle
storage. The site has around 200 full-time equivalent employees. There isn’t a market demand for high-specification
employment floorspace in this location. Therefore, the loss of the site for employment uses would have little impact upon the
local economy or local employment figures.
Indurent is proposing that the emerging SWLP includes a policy which would allow Indurent to respond flexibly to future
economic conditions over the next 25 years to allow redevelopment of the site for alternative uses.
Added to this, given the status of the site as brownfield land and as a former MoD site, the ground conditions will likely
influence the type of uses which will be viable for development.
The potential for the redevelopment of the Business Park (in part or whole) for residential use is clear. The use would
complement the existing 1,050 dwellings on Meon Vale (and the additional dwellings in Meon Way Gardens to the south),
while future residents would benefit from the existing services and facilities on Meon Vale (primary school, village hall,
convenience store, cafes, leisure centre, sports pitches, open spaces). Unlike new settlements, which are notorious for slow
delivery rates (Long Marston Airfield and Gaydon / Lighthorne Heath as relevant examples within Stratford district), the key
infrastructure already exists at Meon Vale which gives certainty of delivery if Indurent decided to promote the Business Park
for redevelopment to residential use during the plan period. It would also benefit the local planning authorities as the site
could be delivered early in the plan period.
In light of the above, Indurent has instructed Turley to submit representations to the emerging SWLP to this effect. It is
important that these matters are addressed now, within the Part 1 plan, rather than deferring to Part 2 of the SWLP.

Yes

ID sylw: 108302

Derbyniwyd: 07/03/2025

Ymatebydd: Indurent Propco A3 Ltd

Asiant : Turley

The South Warwickshire Local Plan will make provision for the delivery of at least 1,679 dwellings per annum, in line with the
HEDNA; with sufficient flexibility to accommodate up to 2,188 dwellings per annum, in line with the 2024 NPPF Standard
Method. This equates to at least 41,975 dwellings over a 25-year plan period from 2025-2050, with sufficient flexibility to
accommodate up to 54,700 dwellings. No comments are made specifically to the housing requirements set out in this draft
policy direction.
Indurent Propco A3 Ltd (‘Indurent’) supports the councils’ decision to plan to 2050. The NPPF (2024) is clear at paragraph 22
that “strategic policies should look ahead over a minimum 15-year period from adoption to anticipate and respond to longterm requirements and opportunities”.
Meon Vale Business Park falls within ‘Priority Area 1’ on the interactive policies map. The supporting text to draft Policy
Direction 1 states that “three ‘priority areas’ have been delineated which determine areas of land which fall within this
Spatial Growth Strategy, based on proximity to the various elements that form part of the strategy. South Warwickshire's
existing urban areas fall within Priority 1, and full use will be made of suitable urban brownfield land before development is
considered elsewhere” (our emphasis). Indurent supports this intention to focus development towardS suitable brownfield
land (such as the Business Park) before considering development elsewhere.

Other

ID sylw: 108303

Derbyniwyd: 07/03/2025

Ymatebydd: Indurent Propco A3 Ltd

Asiant : Turley

Indurent Propco A3 Ltd (‘Indurent’) raises no concerns with the approach to identify new settlement locations to address the
housing requirement. The NPPF is clear at paragraph 77 that the “supply of large number of new homes can often be best
achieved through planning for larger scale development, such as new settlements or significant extensions to existing
villages and towns”.
However, the plan must not place an overreliance on strategic sites delivering the required housing during the plan period.
Stratford District Council’s Core Strategy (adopted 2016) allocated two new settlements in Long Marston Airfield (LMA) and
Gaydon / Lighthorne Heath (GLH) to deliver around 4,400 new homes over the plan period to 2031 (2,100 and 2,300
respectively).
The most recent annual monitoring report for Stratford-on-Avon district was released in December 2023 and covered the
period 2022/23. For the LMA, the report advised that 251 homes had been built by 2022/23. The housing trajectory in the
Core Strategy anticipated the new settlement would have delivered 550 dwellings at this point. Moreover, the LMA only has
detailed planning permission for 400 new homes. Although it is understood that applications for another 500 homes will be
permitted shortly, the outline application for the wider 3,100 dwellings was submitted in 2018 and remains undetermined
(18/01892/OUT). It is understood that the delay to the South Western Relief Road is preventing the majority of the site
coming forward, so it is highly unlikely that the LMA will deliver 2,100 new homes by the end of the plan period. The same
monitoring report confirmed that only 454 new homes were built up to 2022/23 (against the assumed number of 725
dwellings at the same stage in the housing trajectory). The report advises that the whole GLH new settlement is expected to
deliver only 1,651 new homes by 2031 (against the target of 2,300 new homes for the plan period).
The redevelopment of the Business Park for residential uses would not be dependent upon the South Western Relief Road
coming forward. There remains sufficient trip capacity within the wider Meon Vale site to accommodate further, and
significant, residential development. Moreover, the potential future closure of the Business Park would open up more
capacity on the network which would be absorbed by further housing development. Evidence can be provided to the
councils to demonstrate this in more detail.
Moreover, the redevelopment of the Business Park for residential uses would benefit from the existing services and facilities
on Meon Vale (primary school, village hall, convenience store, cafes, leisure centre, sports pitches, open spaces). The key
infrastructure already exists at Meon Vale which gives certainty of delivery if Indurent decided to promote the Business Park
for redevelopment to residential use during the plan period. It would also benefit the local planning authorities as the site
could be delivered early in the plan period.

Other

ID sylw: 108304

Derbyniwyd: 07/03/2025

Ymatebydd: Indurent Propco A3 Ltd

Asiant : Turley

Draft Policy Direction 9 aims to make “full use” of suitable urban brownfield land before development is considered in other
locations. Indurent Propco A3 Ltd (‘Indurent’) strongly supports this policy direction in principle.
The draft policy wording states that “where available brownfield land is located outside of urban areas, decisions on its use
will have reference to the sustainability of the location, with regard to the Spatial Growth Strategy priority areas 1-3; and/or
whether its use would increase the sustainability of the area as part of a large-scale development such as a new settlement”.
Any future redevelopment of the Business Park would fully align with this policy direction.
The draft policy direction also aligns with paragraph 89 of the NPPF which states that the “use of previously developed land,
and sites that are physically well-related to existing settlements, should be encouraged where suitable opportunities exist”.
A similar policy is contained with the Stratford Core Strategy, adopted in 2016. Policy CS.15(e) states that development will
be permitted on certain large rural brownfield sites “to encourage the effective use of previously developed land”. The policy
directed the decision-taker to Policy AS.11 which provided greater detail on proposals for the re-use and redevelopment of
previously developed sites. It included a specific part (2) which confirmed which planning uses would be appropriate as part
of a wider redevelopment of Meon Vale (referred to as the ‘former Engineer Resources Depot, Long Marston’), subject to
specific requirements. These uses included: “leisure-related activities and accommodation; employment uses within Classes
B1, B2 and B8; other forms of employment that make use of the rail connection to the site; and residential development that
is consistent with the approach set out in Policies CS.15”. Indurent recommends that the new local plan includes a similar
policy to deal with specific previously developed sites within the plan area.
Moreover, the policies within the future Regulation 19 consultation must be drafted to include a caveat that any other
restrictive policies within the plan (such as those which aim to resist the loss of existing employment uses to nonemployment uses) should not apply to the Meon Vale Business Park or other similar sites listed in the policy.

Other

ID sylw: 108305

Derbyniwyd: 07/03/2025

Ymatebydd: Indurent Propco A3 Ltd

Asiant : Turley

Indurent Propco A3 Ltd (‘Indurent’) raises no concerns in principle with a policy which aims to protect and enhance
biodiversity and geodiversity sites and assets. Meon Vale Business Park lies adjacent to a ‘Local Wildlife Site’ to the north and
‘Potential Local Wildlife Site’ to the immediate west. Accordingly, any future policy wording must be carefully drafted to not
unduly impact on the development potential of the Business Park.