Representation by Sackville UK Property Select IV (GP) No.1 Limited (Sackville UK Property Select IV (GP) No.1 Limited)
- Date submitted
- 19 November 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
We act on behalf of Sackville UK Property Select IV (GP) No.1 Limited, a subsidiary of Columbia Threadneedle Invest-ments, in respect of their freehold ownership of land and buildings at [Redacted] (“the Site”). A site plan is attached for reference. Columbia Threadneedle Investments a leading manager of UK Real Estate, established in 1994, with clients including UK Pension Funds, Life Funds, Local Authority Pension Schemes and Corporate Pension Schemes. The Applicant man-ages over 1,000 property assets across the UK including warehouses, offices and retail units and has extensive experi-ence of development and asset management throughout the full property lifecycle. We are instructed to register Sackville UK Property Select IV (GP) No.1 Limited (the “Site Owner”) as an “Interested Par-ty” in respect of the application by Gatwick Airport Limited for an Order Granting Development Consent for the Gatwick Airport Northern Runway Project: Reference TR020005. This will enable the Site Owner and its advisors to participate in future stages of the process as necessary. This letter provides a brief description of the Site and the Site Owner’s intentions for it. It outlines aspects of the Gatwick application that could give rise to potential impacts to future development of the Site. The Site The Site comprises 2.4ha of land accessed via Balcombe Road which provides a north – south route between Horley and Crawley. It is occupied by a single two storey building comprising 330sqm accessed via a long private driveway. The building was originally a residential dwellinghouse and subsequently converted to offices in the early 1980s. It was last used as serviced offices but has been vacant for a considerable amount of time due to a lack of demand. The sur-rounding gardens have not performed an amenity function for many years and are now of poor quality and subject to regular basic maintenance. There are mature trees on the site boundaries with are subject to Tree Protection Order RE1503/2021. Relationship with Development Plan The statutory Development Plan relevant to the Site is up to date and comprises the following: • Core Strategy (adopted July 2014 and reviewed July 2019) • Development Management Plan (adopted September 2019) • Policies Map The Site comprises approximately 2.4ha acres of land which forms part of the “Policy HOR9 - Horley Strategic Business Park” allocation within RBBC’s updated Core Strategy. Additional land covered by the allocation falls within the ownership of Surrey County Council (19.5ha) and RBBC (8.9ha). The aspirations of the statutory Development Plan set out within Policy HOR9 are as follows: 1) A strategic business park of predominantly B1a offices (now Class E) with limited B1b, B1c (now Class E) and B8 and non-B Class uses include appropriate airport related sui-generis uses. 2) A complementary range of commercial retail and leisure facilities to serve and facilitate the main business use of the site to include catering, limited retail, hotel and conference, gym, creche and medical services. 3) At least 5ha of new high quality public open space, including park land and outdoor sports facilities. 4) Direct access to strategic road network (M23 spur) 5) Secondary access from Balcombe Road for emergency services; public and other sustainable transport modes; and local employees. 6) Landscape buffer and public open space to reinforce the distinctive identity of Horley and its separation from Gatwick Airport and the wide countryside to the east. 7) Protection and enhancement of existing trees and hedgerows where possible and retention of the green corridor along Balcombe Road. Site Owner’s Intentions The Site Owner is seeking to redevelop the Site at a future point for business use which is supported in principle by the above allocation. The Site is capable of being developed independently of the wider site allocation and options are being considered in this regard. Delivery of the wider Business Park offers longer term potential and benefits relating to enhanced accessibility to the strategic road and transport network and synergies with commercial uses on adjacent sites. POTENTIAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE GATWICK PROPOSALS The extent of the Gatwick application is defined by the redline of the Site Location Plan. The redline includes land within the ownership of the Airport and extensive areas outside of its ownership including highway and other third-party land. The Site is not included within the redline boundary and hence is not subject to any specific proposals. Accordingly, the Gatwick proposals are unlikely to have a significant direct impact on the ability to carry out independent development of the Site. The proposed highway works in the vicinity of the Site comprise construction of a flyover above the Gatwick M23 Spur Road roundabout and improvements to the existing bridge over Balcombe Lane. The existing roundabout appears to be left unaltered with three arms providing access to the east, south and west. A strip of land to the north owned by Surrey County Council is included within the redline and has been identified as a location for surface water attenuation in con-nection with proposed highway works to the Gatwick M23 Spur Road to the south. The above proposals have potential implications for the delivery of the Horley Strategic Business Park as follows: 1) The principal access from the Gatwick M23 Spur Road to the Business Park would be via a fourth arm to the northern part of the roundabout. 2) The Surrey County Council land within the redline is required to deliver the principal access road to the Busi-ness Park providing access to Gatwick M23 Spur Road and the surrounding road network including the M23. 3) The Gatwick application does not demonstrate how critical infrastructure components of Horley Strategic Busi-ness Park could be delivered in conjunction with these highway proposals. We note that the Examining Authority has requested additional technical analysis in respect of highway and transport matters. It is critical that due consideration is given to relevant commitments with the development plans of the affected local authority areas. This includes that Horley Strategic Business Park commitment which forms part of a relatively re-cently adopted development plan which was subject to rigorous scrutiny at the examination stage. This included detailed consideration of evidence related to highway/transport infrastructure and capacity in order to establish key components of now adopted Policy HOR0 including the primary access from the Gatwick M23 Spur Road and a secondary access from Balcombe Lane. In relation to the surface water attenuation facility, the potential implications are noted as follows: 1) The redline and proposed area required for the drainage facility noted in the application are extensive and no justification is provided for this extent of land. It is our understanding that any third-party land required to deliver such measures should be defined on a precise basis. This does not appear to be the case in this instance. 2) It is our understanding that all reasonable options should be explored before it can be determined that the third-party land is required for an identified purpose. The application does not include an assessment of reasonable alternatives. 3) The acquisition of land may not be necessary if a reasonable alternative can be agreed with a third-party land-owner that would secure use of land for a defined purpose. The application does not identify such alternatives or explain the nature of discussions with the landowner to date. The above matters represent the initial observations of the Site Owner at this stage. However, the Site Owner reserves the right to make additional submissions on these matters and any other topics that may have material implications to the development of land within its control.