Employment Land Study

Description

Liverpool City Council (LCC) are commencing a review of the Local Plan (adopted 2022). The Local Development Scheme was approved by the City Council's Cabinet in July 2023 and can be found on the website: https://liverpool.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/plan-making-in-liverpool/local-development-scheme/.  The City Council are inviting bids from suitably experienced and qualified consultants to undertake an Employment Land and Premises Study for the city in accordance with national planning policy and national guidance contained in the Planning Practice Guidance (PPG).  The study will focus on those employment land uses or premises that fall within Use Class B - Industrial or Storage and Distribution; Use Class E Commercial, Business and Service; and relevant uses with sui generis use class specifically:

•	Use Class B2 General industrial - Use for the carrying on of an industrial process other than one falling within the uses described in Schedule 2, Class E, sub-paragraph (g)

•	Use Class B8 - Storage or distribution - Use for storage or as a distribution centre including open air storage.

•	Use Class E(c) - for the provision of the following kinds of services principally to visiting members of the public-
financial services; 
professional services (other than health or medical services); or
 any other services which it is appropriate to provide in a commercial, business or service locality,  

•	Use Class E (g) for an office to carry out any operational or administrative functions; the research and development of products or processes; or 
any industrial process, being a use, which can be carried out in any residential area without detriment to the amenity of that area by reason of noise, vibration, smell, fumes, smoke, soot, ash, dust or grit.

Along with those listed above, any identified localised specialised employment land requirements will need to be taken into account in the course of the study.

This study will form an integral part of the Local Plan evidence base. It must provide robust, up to date evidence in respect of the city's employment land requirements and inform the scope and content of Local Plan employment policy which will guide future development and growth in the city.   The council are also commissioning the following studies via separate tender exercises which must be cognisant of each other and share the same baseline data:

•	Strategic Housing Market Needs Assessment
•	Retail and Leisure Study
•	City Centre Strategy
•	Open Space Study

In particular, the Study will be intrinsically linked to the Strategic Housing Market Needs Assessment (SHMNA), and each should inform the other in terms of evidence and key actions.

The following outputs will be required from the study:

•	Inception meeting with officers to agree timescales and reporting arrangements.
•	At least 6 client meetings over the course of the project.
•	Organising and facilitating engagement with key stakeholders in relation to market demand and any o