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focus on M27 & southampton
Changes afoot for M27 and Southampton development
Whilst the M27 links the two major cities of Southampton and Portsmouth, growth continues to be planned between them, most recently when plans for a controversial new town of up to 7,500 homes north of Fareham were approved.
Following a public enquiry, a government inspector approved Fareham Borough Council’s growth plans for the next 15 years, which include the new development on countryside land stretching from Wickham to Wallington. The decision has angered those opposed to the new development, however the matter rests with Fareham as the planning authority. The inspector recommended removing reference to a proposed employment area at junction 11 of the M27, but the council will now work on creating a detailed plan for the new community, considering affordable housing, infrastructure, employment opportunities and open spaces creation.
A group of countryside campaigners has given a cautious welcome to the inspector’s guidance on environmental protection for the local area, but said there are major uncertainties over budgeting and planning of traffic, transport and schools. Caroline Dibden from the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) Hampshire said: “We are bitterly disappointed about the decision. It is quite clear that building a new town is not for Fareham’s own needs but it is for regional need. It is a shame that Fareham has to take everyone else’s housing.“
Meanwhile city-centric – or at least SO postcode – historically, Business Southampton has morphed into Business Solent and embraced a wider regional ’fit’, while a commitment by higher education establishments in not only Southampton but also the surrounding area, to create opportunities to keep local talent local has been welcomed. It ties in with a new apprentice scheme announced at the launch of the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), held at the City Cruise
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Terminal. The Solent LEP, chaired by Doug Morrison, is one of 24 in the UK approved by the Government after it axed nine regional agencies, including the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA). The group supports the government’s Local Growth Plan, which aims to promote locally-driven growth, encourage investment in the region’s businesses, and promote economic growth.
Hannides, cabinet member for resources, leisure and culture said: “The attraction will ring together the city’s heritage, attract thousands of visitors and create new jobs. This investment demonstrates our ongoing plans to develop Southampton as the capital of the south.“
Sea City will feature two permanent exhibitions and one temporary exhibition. The two
fewer than four months. The rail upgrade project was designed to allow bigger freight trains to travel between Southampton and the West Midlands and has given Southampton a major advantage in the import and export market. Chris Lewis, managing director, DP World Southampton, said: “Southampton now leads the UK’s major container ports in terms of rail modal share for import and export containers. We are fortunate in that DP World Southampton has additional rail capacity that can be added to meet growing customer demand without further infrastructure upgrades.“
Sea City in the making
Solent Apprentices for Business will source and shortlist candidates for interview. Successful apprentices will be placed on a training course with a local college. The agency will also handle payroll and HR issues on behalf of employers, who will pay a fee based on their apprentices’ wages. The scheme is part of an action plan by the LEP to lead economic development in the Solent region and target the creation of 10,000 new jobs by 2026.
The construction of Southampton’s prestigious international visitor attraction, Sea City, reached a key construction milestone last month with the topping out of the new special exhibitions’ pavilion. Southampton City Council and contractor Kier Southern held a ceremony to celebrate reaching the highest point of the build, the tip of the pavilion. Sea City, supported by a grant of £4.9 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund, is planned to open to the public in April 2012, a century after the Titanic tragedy. John
permanent exhibitions cover the role of Southampton as Gateway to the World and Southampton’s Titanic Story. The temporary exhibition which will run for one year from opening is all about the Legend of the Titanic. Sea City is part of Southampton’s emerging Cultural Quarter, set to bring more than 2,000 direct jobs and an additional £21m of visitor spend to the city each year.
Liverpool’s plans to upgrade its cruise facility using public money, eyeing up a slice of Southampton’s lucrative and privately-funded cruise market, have caused controversy. Southampton port director and new LEP chairman Doug Morrison has stated that any extension to Liverpool’s facility should be funded privately.
However, a rail infrastructure project costing nearly £60m has boosted Southampton’s container port. DP World, which operates the terminal at Western Docks, said that the number of containers transported to and from the city by rail jumped from 30-36% in
On reviewing the performance of the industrial and warehousing sector of the M27 corridor commercial property market in the first half of 2010, CBRE’s south central agency associate director, Nick Tutton, commented: “The good momentum the south coast industrial market saw in the second half of 2010 seems to have continued into the first half of this year. The shortage of good quality units at the larger end of the market, above 30,000 sq ft, has been well documented and the situation is only becoming more acute. However, the first half of this year has seen an additional trend with a good level of take up on smaller units of between 5,000-15,000 sq ft. Without doubt this is down to the competitive deals that are still being offered to occupiers, whether a secondhand unit, refurbished or new unit never occupied.
“A good example is the former Helical Trade Centre, now rebranded as Southampton Trade Park. The ownership of this estate recently changed hands and whilst the full terms of the sale have not been disclosed, it is often the case that sales of assets with many vacant units such as this, are purchased in a way that allows the new owners to offer extremely competitive terms in the early period of marketing. In this case it has resulted in at least four units being let in the six months since it was purchased, compared to three units let in the previous two years. With other landlords reacting to the changes in the market, this bodes well for occupiers, especially for good quality tenants who may be looking to upsize or downsize or upgrade current accommodation.“
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – SEPTEMBER 2011
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