Churchfields FAQ | Salisbury Vision

Churchfields is one of the most important industrial estates in Wiltshire but has many problems and constraints that have long been known to the businesses that are located there. Through earlier consultations, the main problems that businesses have identified include:

Access to the estate and many of the individual businesses is difficult - particularly for Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) that clog up local residential roads and the city centre causing congestion and pollution. The only HGV accessible route to the estate runs through part of the city centre and as plans for the Brunel Link and Harnham Relief Road will now not go ahead, there are no prospects for this situation to improve on the horizon.
Churchfields is a constrained site. There is no room for expansion. There are also significant parking problems experienced by many of the businesses located there.
The area has developed over time in a piecemeal fashion. It is widely accepted that a number of businesses on the site are inappropriately located, with many neighbouring uses that are inappropriate or incompatible with others.
For many businesses with an eye to growth, there are very limited opportunities to expand.
The nature of the site presents greater opportunities for vandalism or theft.

Looking at the opportunities, the Churchfields project has the scope to provide:

A well-planned mix of business, residential and other useful facilities to support the growth of Salisbury.
Essential housing with views of the cathedral and close to the city centre and railway station.
The opportunity to provide a much needed hotel and conference facilities.
A significant reduction in the number of HGVs travelling through the city centre – thereby providing environmental improvements for all city users.

Q. Why wasn’t this all sorted out years ago?

Whilst the problems on the estate are long-standing ones, the solutions to dealing with them are not straightforward. There have been attempts in the past to alleviate problems, though a new link road for example, but these have not come forward. Plans for the Brunel Link and Harnham Link Road were dropped from the roads programme several years ago and, due to funding and environmental constraints, it is virtually certain that such schemes will now never be realised.

It is acknowledged that the problems on Churchfields will remain until they are addressed at a strategic level. This takes time and careful planning to deliver. The first key step in this process is to provide a planning policy platform for regeneration – which the Council has been working on for several years. The estate is now included as Strategic Growth site within Wiltshire Council’s Core Strategy and the project is a key complement of the Salisbury Vision.

Potential Changes

Q. What are the changes proposed?

The Wiltshire Council Core Strategy and Salisbury Vision document propose a radical regeneration project for Churchfields, based upon the following key components:

To retain a total of 5 hectares of employment land designated for business activities that fit with the other uses on the site.
Redevelopment of roughly two thirds of the site as a residential-led mixed use scheme which includes 1,100 homes (40% of which will be affordable housing) a new school, and a high quality hotel and conferencing facilities.
The inclusion of significant areas of publicly accessible green space and improved access to the river-side.
Improved pedestrian access to the city centre and railway station
Making better use of an area that enjoys commanding views to the Cathedral across the water-meadows

These changes would require:

The relocation of businesses (primarily those generating HGV traffic movements) to alternative, better suited locations within or close to the city.
Provision of high quality employment accommodation for those businesses to remain on Churchfields.

Q. Why do we need more homes?

By 2026 the population of south Wiltshire is expected to have grown by about 14,000 persons. This presents a clear need for new housing to be built to meet demand and means that around 12,400 new houses need to be built within south Wiltshire between now and 2026. Additionally, the number of households requiring some form of affordable housing is around 700 per year. Average house prices are relatively high yet the incomes of 92% of those seeking to enter the housing market are inadequate to allow them to do so. This highlights acute need in the local housing market.

The housing development at Churchfields would have an important role in helping to meet some of this demand within the city centre – for both ‘affordable homes’ (including social rented and mixed-tenure) as well as homes available for open market sale.

Q. Why do we need more office accommodation?

The type of employment in the area is changing and a significant proportion of employment floorspace needed in the future is expected to be for offices. Salisbury has little in the way of purpose-built, modern office accommodation, and vacancy rates for such accommodation are low. The provision of more high quality office space will allow the growth in employment in these activities within sustainable city centre locations as opposed to out of centre office parks, often only accessible by private car.

Salisbury currently ‘loses’ a gross figure of 12,500 workers every day to other areas through out-commuting. The benefits to be achieved to the city both in economic and sustainability terms by providing new high quality accommodation within the city centre should be significant.

Q. Why a four-star hotel and conference centre?

Salisbury does not currently have a facility of this kind. The ability to develop one within the existing city centre is limited. Most cities of the size of Salisbury do have such a facility, generating visitors and money and creating more local jobs. The famous views across the water meadows to Salisbury Cathedral, coupled with a scenic path into the city centre, would, we believe, prove a major draw.

Regeneration Process

Q. What will the process be?

It is important to be aware that this scheme has not yet reached the design stage as we are keen to discuss these proposals with business and consider the feasibility of this scheme first.

As such, there will be some important preliminary work that needs to be completed to enable Salisbury Vision and Wiltshire Council to establish the scope and scale of this potential project at Churchfields. This initial works includes:

Face-to-Face Discussions with Businesses and Landowners
We will be seeking to arrange meetings with every business and landowner on Churchfields over the next three months to understand their specific needs, issues and views.

Preliminary site assessment
There will be an in-depth analysis of land and property issues as well as key development issues such as access, services and ground conditions.

Masterplanning
Subject to the outcome of this preliminary work, Salisbury Vision and its partners will progress to a Masterplanning stage which would encompass the whole of the Churchfields area. This exercise will also allow further opportunities for businesses, landowners, local residents and other stakeholders with an interest to have their say on the emerging proposals.

Development of Scheme
The ideas that emerge through the masterplanning process and through consultation with businesses will inform the specific development proposals that emerge. These will need to be tested through engagement with landowners and developers. Before any development takes place on the ground, the scheme would need to be defined, developers (or development partners) identified and necessary planning consents obtained.

Implementation
This scheme can only be implemented once the masterplanning work is completed and this is likely to be implemented in phases.

Q. What are the potential timescales for the re-development of Churchfields?

This is a complex and ambitious project that seeks to accommodate the needs of existing businesses as far as possible and therefore we want to ensure we get any potential re-development right, for both businesses and the local community.

The current programme we are working to is broadly as follows:

Face-to-Face Discussions with Businesses and Landowners
Preliminary site assessment / feasibility
Masterplanning
Scheme development
Project Implementation

We anticipate that any significant physical development arising from this work is unlikely to take place until around 2012. However, this is dependent upon the outcome of the earlier stages so if ‘early win’ opportunities are identified that are consistent with of the overall Masterplan, these may come forward at an earlier stage.

Overall, the regeneration of Churchfields is a long-term project that Salisbury Vision and the Council expect to be delivered over the life-time of the Core Strategy – which is a minimum of 15 years from the present.

Consultation Process

Q. Are you going to consult?

Over the last few years, a significant level of consultation regarding the Churchfields proposals has already taken place through the development of the South Wiltshire Core Strategy.

Consultation will continue to be a key part of the process both now and during the masterplanning stage.

We gave every business on Churchfields the opportunity for a face to face meeting over the Summer of 2010 in order for us to understand their needs and issues and to enable them to ask questions about the proposals.

Businesses will have the opportunity to feedback later this year through a variety of channels, including formal consultation events.

Q. Haven’t you already talked to businesses?

Yes. The Council has held discussions and events in the past associated with its regeneration plans, these have helped to inform the position that we have now reached in terms of identifying the area as a strategic growth site within the Core Strategy.

The last significant consultation event was held in January 2009 and we have received specific feedback on relocation issues from a number of businesses and landowners.

We are now moving to a new stage of the process and we believe that we need to start a more detailed and comprehensive consultation process, to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to get their views across and for us to update businesses on what has been happening.

We are concerned not to reinvent the wheel, so where businesses and landowners have been previously spoken to and we have a record of these discussions we will take this into account in our future discussions, but clearly these businesses will still have an opportunity for further comment and to review what was previously said in the light of their current circumstances.

Q. How much of a say will businesses really have?

The importance of ensuring business buy-in to the project will be key to its success.
With this in mind, the Salisbury Vision and its partners at Wiltshire Council are keen to ensure that the businesses are fully involved in developing solutions to improve Churchfields and in the development of potential relocation sites around the city.

Relocation

Q. What scale of relocation is expected?

Until the Council and its partners have completed its consultation with businesses, and the site assessment and masterplanning work described above, there can be no certainty over the likely scale or programme of relocations that may occur.

The Council’s policy does envisage relocations on a fairly substantial scale over the next 15 years, but this needs to be assessed in terms of deliverability with regard to both on-site and off-site issues. Consideration of these matters is at the heart of the work that the Council and its partners will be undertaking over the next 12 months.

Q. When is it likely to happen?

The commencement of project implementation phase is not expected until 2012 at the earliest. In all probability we expect the regeneration of Churchfields to take place in phases, much will depend upon the outcome of consultation and the forthcoming feasibility work.

Q. Are you going to force businesses to relocate?

There are currently no plans to compel businesses to relocate if they do not wish to do so. Our aim is to create the circumstances in which it is in the commercial interests of businesses to relocate and that the relocation sites offered make sound business sense.

Q. This project creates uncertainty over our future – how do we plan for the future in such conditions?

We recognise that without firm plans and a confirmed delivery programme businesses on Churchfields are faced with uncertainty. This unfortunately is unavoidable.

The Council and its partners at Salisbury Vision will do what it can to ensure that businesses are kept informed and involved in the process of developing the regeneration / delivery programme as much as possible.

We are very keen to ensure that the strategy developed is one in which businesses are actively involved throughout and have the ability to direct. Under these circumstances, the level of uncertainty should be kept to a minimum.

Q. Where are the potential relocation sites for Churchfields businesses?

Churchfields businesses are important to the area and we need to ensure that businesses have every opportunity to relocate close to the city or within the local area.

We recognise that businesses have many different needs and requirements and so Salisbury Vision and its partners will work with the businesses and its partners to identify all potential relocation sites in and around the city that may offer opportunities for businesses to relocate. These will include existing ‘brownfield’ sites as well as ‘greenfield’ sites that have been identified through the Core Strategy.

Many businesses may wish to be located close to others, or move as groups or ‘clusters’ – and we will be seeking to understand these issues early in the process so this can inform our plans.

We anticipate that proximity to the city centre and key arterial roads will also be an important factor as well as other issues, such as access to local services and public transport.

Potential sites may include:

Land at Harnham, south of the Netherhampton Road (10 ha).
Old Sarum – Longhedge (8ha)
Former Imerys quarry (4ha)
Fugglestone Red – (8ha)
UKLF HQ – (3 ha)
Southampton Road

For businesses who may wish to locate outside of the Salisbury area, there may be other sites to identify, with good access to the strategic road network.

There are also potentially a number of vacant units on business parks and in other locations around the city that may be suitable.

Q. What are the benefits of these sites over Churchfields?

The benefits will vary from site to site but in general, these sites can be developed in such a way that they provide for adequate car parking and overcome congestion and HGV access issues that prevail on the Estate. Also, many of these sites have space for businesses to expand within modern purpose-built accommodation.

Q. Will certain businesses be relocated together?

Potentially this could make a lot of sense. We anticipate that there will be businesses that see co-location with their peers as commercially advantageous and we will seek to help deliver this. Also, businesses that form part of the same supply chain may want this too.

We are anticipating business will provide the lead on this and we will be seeking to understand these issues in more detail through the initial face-to-face consultation process over the summer.

Q. What businesses do you envisage remaining on Churchfields?

The policy within the Core Strategy anticipates that on completion of the regeneration programme, approximately 5 hectares (15% of the site) will continue to be designated for business use. The type of businesses best suited to stay will be those that comfortably sit alongside and complement residential and town centre uses. They would not generate significant HGV traffic and would operate quietly and cleanly. Such uses could include (but would not be limited to) offices and ‘light’ workshop uses.

Q. How will you ensure relocation is as seamless as possible?

Given that any relocation is likely to be phased, there will be plenty of time to ensure that any potential disruption will be kept to a minimum.

Financial Issues

Q. Are you going to offer any incentives? Will you be able to offer businesses any financial support?

We hope to show that any potential relocation from Churchfields to other sites around the city or close by will make sound business sense so that, as far as possible, this development scheme will be self financing.

However, the feasibility study will review whether there are any specific financial issues that may need to be considered to make this scheme viable.

Q. Will businesses be compensated for trading loss?

It is too early to say what circumstances may arise that could lead to the need to compensate businesses. Our aim is to facilitate a relocation strategy that makes sound business sense and in which issues of compensation for trading loss do not arise.

Risks

Q. Is there a danger you will lose businesses from Salisbury and/or south Wiltshire and therefore lose employment for local people?

We will try to ensure that as many businesses relocations as possible are within the Salisbury area.

Churchfields is a key employment site providing employment for around 4,500 people. The consultation we have undertaken so far suggests that the most businesses are acutely aware of the problems at Churchfields, and for many this may serve to hold back their ability to grow.

The purpose behind this project is to provide a better environment for all businesses within the city which should, when delivered, increase jobs and business vitality in Salisbury.

Q. This sounds very expensive and difficult. Isn’t it better simply to try and make better use of the estate as it is and save all the trouble?

We believe that it is really important for the future of the city that we work to resolve the problems at Churchfields.

Everything that we have heard from businesses in the past makes us believe that ‘do nothing’ is not an option.

The problems that exist at Churchfields will not go away, indeed as the city grows, we can expect them to get worse, not better. We have this opportunity now to look at this in more detail, something that we are supported in by central government.

Short-term fixes will not resolve the underlying problems at the estate – which the Council and its partners at Salisbury Vision are committed to addressing.

Further information

Q. Where can I find out further information?

The Council and Vision offered all businesses and landowners located on Churchfileds the opportunity for a face to face meeting with a member of the project team over the summer of 2010.

For more general information about the Churchfields Project and project updates please look on the Salisbury Vision web site – at www.salisburyvision.co.uk

If you have any questions that you would like to ask directly, please e-mail info@salisburyvision.co.uk, where appropriate answers to questions raised will be posted on the web site.