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NewsUseful Links: Our new website has a much more contemporary look and feel… Locate East Sussex’s website is designed to attract business users and provide information about the County as a business location, and includes a vacant commercial property database outsourced to CPD. We did feel, however, that the previous version looked a little dull! To truly achieve its objective of being the County’s business ‘shop window’, the existing design and layout did require refreshing to give a much more contemporary look and feel and make the site accessible to more persons, including business visitors from the European Community – in particular from France. This has been undertaken by FAT Promotions, a website production company based in Hastings. To enhance its accessibility to French speakers, another key element of the upgrade is to provide a translation of the key pages. Further services are included or proposed in addition to the vacant property database which was available on the previous site. A promotional video, funded by East Sussex County Council through the Interreg programme, can now be downloaded in both English and French. Just click on the link on the front page. Early in 2008, a browser-based GIS industrial estates directory will also be available to end-users through the site. ^^ Top Of The Page ^^ Coming Soon! Putting East Sussex’s business space on the map… Virtual access to East Sussex’s business space will soon be a click away. GeoSpec (School of Environment, Brighton University) was selected by ESEP to finish updating the East Sussex Industrial Estates Directory on a GIS system. This is a long awaited project, as a paper based directory was last published by East Sussex County Council in 1996. A range of companies found the directory very useful, and have been asking for a new version ever since. This high-tech solution, which is funded through SEEDA’s Area Investment Framework (AIF) programme, makes use of Microsoft Virtual Earth satellite system to make mapping and a database of occupiers available at no cost to end-users through the Locate East Sussex website. The service will be available to users early in 2008. ^^ Top Of The Page ^^ The South East Plan and East Sussex ESEP’s Priority Sites Strategy has now
been put in place and is proving useful as a focus for bringing
forward sites that are central to the delivery of the draft South
East Plan. The importance of the new planning legislation, which
introduced the South East Plan and comes into operation next year,
is essential to grasp. It introduces the concept of ‘spatial
planning’ which goes beyond traditional land use planning
and requires planning authorities to work much more closely with
the community than hitherto to enable a vision for the area that
is based on evidence as well as local influences and community objectives.
At the district/borough level this vision is delivered through Local
Development Frameworks (LDF’s). The draft South East Plan
places an emphasis on ‘reducing intra-regional disparities’:
recognising that there are unique challenges facing areas such as
East Sussex, including a shortage of employment sites and difficulties
in developing available sites because of low rents and high costs.
It also states that economic renaissance is unlikely to be delivered
without appropriate employment land being made available. To avoid
‘planning for failure’, ESEP is influencing the emerging
Local Development Frameworks by providing evidence to ensure that
in the key growth areas – i.e. Hastings and Bexhill, the Eastbourne/Hailsham
Triangle, and Newhaven – an adequate supply of employment
land continues to be available for business space and is not lost
to pressure for residential or retail development. The approach
taken by ESEP was endorsed by the conclusions of the recent Inspectors’
report from the Examination in Public of the South East Plan, which
ESEP attended. The report also emphasised that regeneration activity
should be concentrated primarily in the eastern part of Coastal
Sussex and attached particular importance to the employment opportunity
at Polegate. The report is available at: ^^ Top Of The Page ^^ Planning for growth in East Sussex Plans are being prepared now to put the East Sussex economy on track for sustained economic growth over the next decade. The Local Authorities, and other strategic organisations including East Sussex Economic Partnership (ESEP) and SEEDA, are having a decisive role both in terms of planning for economic growth and in pump-priming major development sites and commercial projects. These plans are shaping the future to sustain an ‘opportunity economy’ which is already making East Sussex an enviable location for business. East Sussex Economic Partnership Ltd is the private/public economic development organisation that leads on strategic economic development in East Sussex. Its overall aim is to: Lead and coordinate on strategy and activities which contribute to raising the economic performance, improving the quality of life and developing employment opportunities in the County of East Sussex. ESEP manages the Locate East Sussex investment service, the East Sussex Business Leadership Team, the East Sussex Area Investment Framework, the Small Rural Town Programme, and the East Sussex Regeneration Network. It works with the private, public and third sectors to fulfil its strategic role of leading, facilitating and lobbying for the economic needs of the county. ESEP’s response to SEEDA’s new Regional Economic Strategy has been to refresh the East Sussex Economic Development Strategy which seeks to transform the County’s economy. Development led growth is planned in the Eastbourne-Hailsham ‘triangle’, consolidating the Hastings/Bexhill renaissance, and maximising the potential of Newhaven Port. The County already competes strongly on lifestyle, environmental and cultural quality, and these factors, in tandem with the emergence of the three coastal economic powerhouses will be a strong magnet for attracting new entrepreneurial activity to East Sussex. Priority Sites At the heart of the Government’s new planning system is the draft South East Plan which, together with the Regional Economic Strategy, creates the structure that will dictate the County’s future economic performance. ESEP has been heavily engaged in the consultation process to finalise these plans and ensure that the County’s interests are protected. ESEP continues to champion the development of commercial land and property, a key component in delivering sustainable economic prosperity in the County. To protect land allocations which are appropriate for commercial development, a key tenet of the South East Plan, ESEP and its Partners are preparing a Priority Sites Strategy. This document clarifies which sites are important to economic development in the County and gives a clear route map showing how these might be brought forward to maximise economic development impacts. This strategy, therefore, is intended to give a clear direction to partners, with potential interventions including direct investment from SEEDA. It links with the Local Development Framework policies emerging from the South East Plan – particularly the Employment Land Reviews – currently being developed by many of the East Sussex planning authorities. An important tool in helping to maximise the potential of the strategic commercial sites in East Sussex for employment use is the key sites evaluation project. In 2006 ESEP – through its investor services arm, Locate East Sussex, commissioned top property consultant Donaldsons LLP (now DTZ) to undertake an evaluation on the key development sites throughout East Sussex. These ‘opportunity sites’ were considered to be at risk from residential development or had been slow in coming forward for employment use. Donaldsons considered a range of realistic development scenarios for the sites, based upon a review of relevant planning economic policies and studies, a property market review and urban design analysis. The study also provided indicative development appraisal advice, in order to provide guidance on development viability. These reports are being used to provide evidence to help Locate East Sussex influence developers and planning authorities to achieve a balance between residential, commercial and other uses. The outcome from the project will be to increase the supply of employment space for business. The success of this project, funded by the Area Investment Framework fund devolved from SEEDA and managed by ESEP, has resulted in further tranche of ten sites being evaluated before March 2008. Commercial Development Around the County many projects have progressed beyond the planning stage and momentum is growing as both private and public sectors actively develop commercial property. Hastings’ economic renaissance continues with regeneration agency Sea Space being given approval to plans that will transform an area of Hastings town centre into a new business and leisure area called the Priory Quarter. The first phase of office development, the 3,500 square metre Lacuna Place office development, is currently under construction, with completion scheduled for summer 2008. East Sussex’s opportunity economy is being given a huge boost with new space available giving the opportunity for hundreds of new jobs to be created across the County. Eastbourne, Hailsham, Battle and Rye – and well as Hastings are towns that are benefiting from this upturn. Swallow Business Park formally known as Martlet Mead – a greenfield site on the A22 to the north of Hailsham – is about to be developed with construction work starting this summer. Rosemary Ross of retained agent Ross & Co said: ‘This site is ideally located for businesses looking to expand and with five units already under offer without any marketing, Swallow Business Park look set for success’. Elsewhere in Hailsham Quadrant Estates and Helical
Bar plc has purchased Ropemaker Park, a 9 acre development. Planning
permission has been obtained for an industrial/warehousing led scheme
that includes a trade counter development, convenience store, creche
and a car showroom. Construction has commenced with completion due
in July 2007. 25,000 sq.ft has been sold to Marlow Ropes (now owned
by English Braids); 35,000 sq.ft. has been let to Waverley TBS,
with a further 8 small employment units under offer to a range of
local companies. Phase 2 which will include further trade counter
units, will be complete by the end of the year. East Sussex Economic Partnership’s Chairman, Hamish Monro says: ‘I am pleased that our businesses now have more choice than ever in which to locate. Our objective in planning the future is for a sustainable economy that will enable East Sussex to make a better contribution to wealth creation in the South East Region’. ^^ Top Of The Page ^^
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