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Logistics businesses need planning reform to scale up site development opportunitiesÂ
Logistics UK has written to Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove and Shadow Minister for Housing and Planning Matthew Pennycook about the importance of planning reform to support the logistics sector.Â
This follows the launch of a government consultation on brownfield land and intervention by the government on London Plan
Planning reform is vital for enabling logistics to invest in and develop sites in a swift and agile way. This is currently inhibited by slow decision-making and local plans not sufficiently protecting space for logistics sites. The planning system has, according to a 2022 Savills report, already suppressed growth in the industrial and logistics sector by 29%, and Logistics UK is concerned that a presumption towards building housing on brownfield land will make the situation worse, harming growth and leading to communities without the core infrastructure they need to thrive. 
In the organisation’s response to the consultation on strengthening planning policy for brownfield development Logistics UK highlights the importance of logistics facilities, including warehousing, to communities and the economy. In this letter, the business group also voiced its objection to the inclusion of an overarching presumption in favour of housebuilding on brownfield land in the London Plan.
As set out Logistics UK’s London manifesto, the capital needs sufficient logistics land in appropriate locations and protected for future use, so that the sector can efficiently and greenly serve London’s growing population. This is not an argument against housing; logistics workers need affordable homes too, but an argument for sustainable communities, supported by logistics services and jobs.
Published On: 14/03/2024 00:00:00
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