Part A Spatial Strategy - Draft Local Plan for Buckinghamshire (Reg 18)

7. Employment Spatial Strategy

Buckinghamshire's employment catchment is defined within the Lichfields Employment and Retail Study 2025. The catchment is the Buckinghamshire Functional Economic Market Area (FEMA). Therefore, the appropriate basis for planning for economic needs in this Local Plan is the Buckinghamshire Council area. There are cross boundary links in terms of flows of workers into and out of Buckinghamshire, but these are not so substantial as to extend the FEMA.

The Level of Employment Growth

The Local Plan needs to help deliver land and premises to support economic growth. The overall level of growth needed is 219.4 ha of new land to 2045.

Employment needs vary according to the business sector:

• 33.5 ha is needed for offices, research and development
• 185.8 ha is needed for industrial and warehousing & distribution

The amount of land needed also takes into account schemes which are already permitted or allocated in Local Plans. This gives a reduced net target of 45.9 ha.

The Local Plan also needs to meet the national requirement to help deliver critically important Modern Economy Uses. These are data centres and freight and logistics. There is a comparative advantage for new data centres in the Ivers area of southern Buckinghamshire. This is linked to the existing cluster of data centres in the Slough – Hayes Availability corridor and the high demand for data centres in areas close by (Modern Economy Study).

Types of New Employment Premises and Land

The Councils' Economic Growth Plan for Buckinghamshire is of critical importance to future economic growth in the area by identifying sectors which help provide high quality jobs and increases local productivity. The Local Plan employment approaches and allocations refer to expanding our existing strategic employment sites at our Enterprise Zones, for example, as set out in the Bucks Economic Growth Plan. The Local Plan policies aim to meet the needs of key sectors which contribute to productivity. These are film and high-end television space research high-performance technology and MedTech. This includes positive planning for businesses that need to grow or update their premises, new locations to assist with regeneration and renewal of bad neighbour uses and support for intensification of existing sites.

The Local Plan employment strategy is also based on the comparative advantages that Buckinghamshire has for nationally important Modern Economy uses in the NPPF. Existing economic strengths and clusters in Buckinghamshire influence the attractiveness of the area to businesses in the Modern Economy sector. There are economic efficiencies of co-location or clustering and so the area has strengths for data centres, laboratories and logistics. Therefore, there is a specific criteria-based policy for new data centres. Support for laboratories, the renewal of storage and distribution premises, offices and Research & Development premises also helps meet growth needs for the modern economy uses within Buckinghamshire. Freight and logistics underpin the success of national and local business needs and are a vital part of planning for the Buckinghamshire economy.

Other policies within the Local Plan support economic growth, for example the delivery of more housing and affordable housing, which will help address labour and skills shortages in the area. New employment growth needs to be facilitated and supported by improvements in infrastructure. This could be road, public transport and active travel as well as other infrastructure such as green infrastructure, biodiversity improvements superfast broadband and flood mitigation to deliver new high quality employment premises which are attractive to the market.

Location of New Employment

The Local Plan needs to protect and enhance the key economic assets within Buckinghamshire. These are the three Enterprise Zones at Silvestone, Westcott and Arla / Woodlands and the globally important Pinewood Studios. These four sites are strategically important, and each has a specific policy approach within the Local Plan.

There are many other key employment sites in Buckinghamshire which provide local jobs, accommodate important firms and contribute to economic growth and productivity. These include the Cressex Business Park in High Wycombe and Rabans Lane in Aylesbury.

These strategic and key employment sites are at the core of the Local Plan employment strategy. The Local Plan policies support the need for their continued success.

The current distribution of new employment land is skewed towards the north and centre of Buckinghamshire. This is primarily due to the scope within current commitments at Silverstone, Woodlands and within the existing employment site at Wescott.

New employment land will be designated in other locations to help meet local business needs and to help re-balance the current skewed distribution. Technical work is underway to inform these allocations. In addition, there is likely to be new settlements within the Local Plan, and these will need to include land for new employment to create mixed use and balanced local communities.

Data Centres

The NPPF places an additional requirement on the Local Plan to help meet the needs for new data centres and other critical employment sectors. The scale of data centres may change in future as technology changes but as a general guide, sites for new data centres will need to be capable of accommodating 50,000 sqm. Further work will be undertaken to consider sites for the allocation of data centres.

Rural Businesses and Other Business Needs

The Local Plan policies have a positive approach to support the needs of local businesses outside main settlements and in rural areas. These can provide local jobs, support the agricultural sector and enhance local communities and facilities. Tourism is an important part of the Buckinghamshire economy with many visitor attractions which cater for local residents and visitors from further afield. They also contribute to local vitality and provide jobs. The Local Plan aims to support visitor attractions and other facilities for tourism.

Labour supply and shortages is a key problem for employers in Buckinghamshire. This limits the potential for new growth. The draft Local Plan identifies a policy (insert policy number) to require contributions towards skills and local employment in line with the Buckinghamshire Skills and Employment Strategy.

Approaches for Identifying New Employment Allocations:

Approach 1 - Expansion at strategic employment sites (Silverstone, Westcott and Pinewood and continued delivery of employment growth at Woodlands)

Approach 2 - New employment within urban expansions and new settlements (see housing approaches 2 and 3)

Approach 3 - Small-scale employment sites promoted through the 'calls for sites'

Approach 4 - Modern Economy uses including datacentres – main opportunity area at Iver linked to Slough – Hayes Availability Zone identified in report by Lichfields

Approach 5 - Intensification and expansion at existing 'key employment sites' (37 sites identified in the Employment Land Review e.g. Globe Park, Cressex, Rabans Lane)

How to Have Your Say

The consultation on this document will start on 17 September and conclude on 29 October 2025 at 23.59 pm. We will review all the comments we receive and consider these to help us shape the final publication of the Local Plan for Buckinghamshire before it is submitted for an independent examination.

You can share your views on the draft plan in the following ways:

• complete the comment boxes throughout this document
• complete, and return, a printed version of the survey available at buckinghamshire.gov.uk/draft-local-plan
• email us at planningpolicyteam.bc@buckinghamshire.gov.uk
• write to us at Draft Local Plan Consultation, Planning Policy, Buckinghamshire Council, Walton Street, Aylesbury, HP20 1UA