2.1 A vibrant and efficient economy is vital if the North East is to remain an attractive, durable, competitive and sustainable business location. It is essential therefore that there is a policy framework that fosters and promotes the economy to face future challenges. What follows is based firmly on the plan’s aims and strategy, set out in Chapter 1, in particular Objectives 1 to 4.

2.2 The plan recognises the need to diversify further the area’s employment base to provide access to jobs across the North East and ensure the continued prosperity of the area’s economy throughout the plan period and beyond. The plan will build on the strengths of the North East’s economy, such as its skilled workforce, the energy industry as represented by oil and gas, a growing service sector and its importance as a place of learning, research and development. Recognition also requires to be given to the area’s indigenous industries, including forestry, agriculture, fishing, engineering, textiles, paper products and food processing. Opportunities for diversification of the North East’s economy will be promoted. This will embrace all sectors of the economy, including Information Communication Technology, renewable energy and farm diversification. The plan is responsive to newer more vibrant and viable economic activities.

2.3 There should be a choice and range of sites to meet all employment needs in terms of quality, size and location. This is vital to ensure that an adequate supply of employment land is available to meet the demands of business and help to sustain and nurture the economy of the North East. In keeping with the strategic aims of this plan, sites will be in the most sustainable and deliverable locations, focusing development at existing settlements. This means close to where people live, close to effective transport networks and public transport corridors and on sites realistically available within the plan period. It also means giving priority, where appropriate, to the regeneration of redundant buildings and brownfield land and creating efficient and sustainable mixed-use developments. Economic growth should be balanced with the need to protect the environment and care should be taken to ensure that pollution is reduced and controlled and waste is minimised. This philosophy lies at the heart of the strategy of the plan, a core objective of which is to promote and foster sustainable economic diversity and competitiveness, create new economic development opportunities and develop the natural strengths and growth sectors of the economy.

2.4 The plan recognises the opportunities offered by tourism that forms an important part of an expanding service sector in helping promote economic growth and development throughout the North East. Tourism and countryside recreation provides potential to broaden the base of the economy, to spread employment opportunities to all parts of the North East and to secure essential services and facilities, whilst conserving the special environmental characteristics that make the area attractive to visitors. Tourism is the responsibility of the Aberdeen and Grampian Tourist Board in partnership with local authorities and Scottish Enterprise Grampian. These partners are committed to promoting the identity of the North East as well as a range of measures to improve the overall tourism product.

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Employment Land

2.5 Analysis of supply and demand for employment land in the North East over the past four years confirms (see Report of Survey and its Addendum) that companies are experiencing difficulties in finding expansion or relocation land and in identifying suitable land for inward investment. The shortage of employment land is not just confined to Aberdeen and the principal Aberdeenshire towns. In many of the smaller towns and settlements in Aberdeenshire there is demand for industrial and business land and premises, which is not being catered for.

2.6 NPPG 2 "Business and Industry" states that structure plans should allocate land to provide for a marketable supply of general industrial and business class land throughout the plan period. The need for a ready supply of land is therefore seen as being vital. This normally equates to a seven-year supply of marketable land being available at any one time, based on development trends over a ten-year period and taking account of other significant economic factors. Local plans will have an important role to play in the identification of a range of quality industrial and business sites in a choice of deliverable and sustainable locations.

2.7 Encouragement is given to the retention and environmental improvement of existing brownfield sites. Consideration should also be given to reallocating existing industrial and business sites constrained by ownership or infrastructure difficulties, if there seems little likelihood that they will be developed.

2.8 Partnerships such as the North East Scotland Economic Development Partnership (NESEDP) and agencies such as Scottish Enterprise Grampian can support the plan in delivering marketable sites in key areas through a range of initiatives. The supply of employment land will be monitored on an annual basis to ensure that there is sufficient land available for development.

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2.9 The economy will need to be responsive to wider economic influences and the possibility that there will be an upturn within the structure plan period. A promotional stance is required.

2.10 Aberdeen and towns in Aberdeenshire will be the focus for the majority of employment land proposals. Sites in other settlements in Aberdeenshire can make an important contribution to the rural economy and the viability of local communities and help reduce the need to travel. Local plans should identify sites in settlements in rural areas where there are opportunities to satisfy demand. Smaller employment proposals elsewhere are generally able to identify their own sites, more appropriate to their scale and requirements.

2.11 A strong office sector has been a feature of Aberdeen’s economy over the past 30 years and whilst there has been a reduction in new completion levels compared to the spectacular growth achieved between 1975 and 1985, demand remains for new modern office space. Provision for office development has also been a feature of towns in Aberdeenshire and should continue. This will help spread job opportunities across the North East and reduce commuting from Aberdeenshire to the city. Local plans shall decide the best locations for office development having regard to a sequential site selection process, as set down in NPPG 8 "Town Centres and Retailing". In preparing policies, particular attention should be paid to issues such as car parking, infrastructure, public transport, pedestrian access and environmental matters.

2.12 Business parks and other special employment uses requiring high quality or high profile locations may only be suited to greenfield locations. This is because there is a limited supply of suitable brownfield sites along transport routes or near to settlement gateway sites. Research carried out in 1997 and 1998 into demand and scope for high quality business park provision to serve Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire confirmed the need for such provision. This gives support to the requirement, previously identified in the Grampian Structure Plan, which stated that two business parks, one to the north west and one to the south of the city should be identified in local plans. It is still considered appropriate that local plans continue to identify specific sites for business park use, having regard to the availability of land within the existing urban fabric, environmental constraints and the proximity of transport links. The Finalised Aberdeen City Local Plan identifies land for business park use at Dyce Drive, to the north west of Aberdeen and planning permission has now been granted for this proposal. A potential site for a business park to the south of Aberdeen has recently been identified within the Portlethen Corridor, and will be proposed in the finalised Aberdeenshire Local Plan.

2.13 Technology Parks such as the Offshore and Science and Technology Parks at Bridge of Don, Aberdeen, are recognised as important economic components of the structure plan strategy. However because of user-constraints they cannot be considered to be marketable land in the context of general business and industrial land. The critical mass achieved by the two Parks at Bridge of Don is a strength on which it would be prudent to capitalise. To provide access to these facilities for the area’s workforce, proposals to extend existing technology parks and provide new technology parks are encouraged.

2.14 National planning policy guidance requires structure plans to identify a general location for a minimum of one general industrial site of between 10 and 30 hectares for a single user. This requirement is in the interest of attracting inward investment and reinforcing the North East as a competitive business location. Such sites require good access to the road and rail network and airports. Scottish Enterprise Grampian has indicated that the prospects of a single user of the scale identified in NPPG 2 setting up in the North East are remote. It is considered therefore that it would be inappropriate to identify a specific site at the current time but the requirement should be kept under review as part of the annual monitoring arrangements set down in Policy 1. Zoned industrial sites of a suitable size could potentially be made available within Aberdeen to address an urgent need for a single user and Policy 3 would allow consideration of proposals on unallocated sites. National planning policy guidance also requires that the structure plan safeguards in the national interest sites for large petrochemical development at St Fergus North and North Collielaw, by Peterhead.

2.15 The structure plan industrial and business land allowances propose that high quality sites, falling within a maximum and minimum range, be available at key locations at any one time. The locations identified in Policy 2 have been chosen as the most appropriate for meeting the criteria outlined above and include Aberdeen, Westhill, Portlethen and rural centres in Aberdeenshire. Huntly has also been included as it is located on a public transport corridor, with both road and rail access. The figures set down for each location take into account existing industrial and business land allocations and the likely contribution that these existing sites could make to help ensure the maintenance of a marketable supply of industrial and business land throughout the structure plan period. They also allow for any "area" shortfall that requires to be addressed. The size of sites to be provided will be a matter for local plans, taking full consideration of demand, that will vary depending on location.

2.16 The Scottish Executive gives a high priority to achieving economic inclusion, where everybody can take part in and contribute to economic development and share the benefits of employment and wealth creation. The structure plan supports the strengthening of the links between economic growth and inclusion, particularly for disadvantaged areas. This requires to be taken account of in the identification of new employment land allocations.

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2.17 Not all employment proposals can be foreseen and planned for in local plans; development schemes for large single uses, like power stations, oil terminals or tourist/leisure proposals, are often inappropriate on existing zoned land because of their size, scale and use. In the same way smaller scale developments on sites not allocated for employment use also need to be considered. In all of these circumstances, proposals should be tested against a set of criteria as set down in Policy 3. There is also a need to ensure that such proposals do not conflict with other policies and proposals in the structure plan.

2.18 The central theme of the structure plan is sustainable development. A part of this is recognising that land is a finite resource and that greenfield land in particular should be used responsibly and as a last resort when there are no other alternatives. Proposals should look to brownfield opportunities before greenfield sites are considered. However, it is recognised that brownfield sites are in short supply outside urban areas and that some proposals will require a specific location for operational reasons. Quarries, waste-water treatment plants, telecommunications apparatus, wind farms, oil terminals and water treatment plants are all examples of such developments.

2.19 Priority should be given to job creation and economic development where this does not lead to unacceptable damage to the environment. Partnerships like NESEDP, with European funding assistance (where available), can help to facilitate priority developments where there is market failure. Where there are funding regimes in place, the need to create and sustain jobs will be a material consideration on the outcome of development decisions.

2.20 Proposals for employment uses on unallocated sites generally should be located where a choice of transport can be offered. They should also be close to areas of population, in an effort to minimise travel distances. This will allow the proposal to take advantage of existing infrastructure and access arrangements. There are two general exceptions to this: where the proposal would present a significant risk to the population, the environment, or lead to coalescence between settlements; and where the proposal is a farm diversification enterprise linked, but subsidiary, to the existing agricultural use.

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2.21 As we move towards global markets and embrace a knowledge economy the importance of Information Communication Technology (ICT) is paramount. If the North East economy is to participate and compete at a national and international level it is vital that the area has a first class ICT infrastructure. This is recognised by NESEDP and the promotion and implementation of ICT infrastructure is a major priority of the partnership. Home working and teleworking are well placed to take advantage of the opportunities created by ICT and should be encouraged and promoted in local plans. This in turn will reduce travel demands and provide an increasingly valuable contribution to employment creation in rural areas. The structure plan supports the provision of a high quality ICT infrastructure network throughout the North East, for example Broadband ICT. A balance requires to be struck between the business need for excellent telecommunications and the need to safeguard amenity, nature conservation, the environment and public safety. However the detailed consideration required for the planning and location of that infrastructure (for example telecommunications apparatus) is a matter that will be dealt with in local plans. New national planning guidance on Radio Telecommunications was issued in July 2001 and support is given by the structure plan for the approach taken in the NPPG, which is to enable the telecommunications industry to expand and diversify in a sensitive manner, taking into account technical requirements and licence requirements. More detailed guidance given in the NPPG will require to be taken into account by local plans in their telecommunications policies.

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Renewable energy

2.22 The employment forecasts suggest we should be planning proactively to counter a decline in key sectors of the economy. Opportunities to diversify the economy need to be encouraged with a particular opportunity available within the energy industry. The North East has a high level of expertise in this field on which to build and harness the potential offered by renewable energy, which is power generated naturally in the environment from the sun, wind, geothermal sources, sea and fall of water. Energy can also be obtained from either the digestion or incineration of crops, wood, waste, landfill gas, animal waste and sewage. Solar energy technology can be incorporated into new development and also be fitted retrospectively in existing urban areas. District heating and combined heat and power (CHP) schemes can also achieve the same end by using the same energy more efficiently to produce heat as well as power. The potential for renewable energy in the North East is huge and is described in more detail in the Report of Survey.

2.23 It appears likely that renewable energy will play an increasingly prominent role in the energy sector. This is as a result of increasing fossil fuel levies, encouragement by government directives, and improved technology. The North East has several potentially feasible renewable energy sources so it is important that local plans take account of the possible requirement and location for such facilities. Renewable energy can contribute to the aims of sustainable development by providing society with a potentially unlimited and renewable resource. It may also have adverse social and environmental impacts that will require to be taken into account.

2.24 Areas suitable for wind energy facilities need to be identified while recognising that they can have adverse impacts in terms of landscape, and interference with airport flight paths and bird migration pathways.

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2.25 The tiered approach should be used as a basis for deciding planning applications and developing areas of search for wind farms. Such proposals should be located in Tier 4 areas in the first instance, followed by Tier 3 areas should development in Tier 4 areas prove impractical. Development in Tier 1 and 2 areas should only be permitted in very exceptional circumstances concerning an over-riding national need outweighing environmental considerations.

2.26 It is not practical to apply the same tiered approach to all renewable energy proposals, as each type of facility often requires different locational criteria. Guidance on the location of other renewable energy facilities and the potential of various sources in the North East is outlined in the Report of Survey. More general criteria for planning such developments are found in NPPG 6 "Renewable Energy" (revised November 2000). Detailed information on catering for individual development can be found in Planning Advice Note 45 "Renewable Energy Technologies".

Tourism

2.27 More tourists need to be drawn to the North East where there is potential to expand its market, particularly for family, short stay and special interest holidays. The North East excels in this respect, being strongly linked to outdoor and countryside pursuits such as skiing, golfing, walking, fishing and climbing. The mountains, lochs, coastline, wildlife, scenery and architecture are major quality attractions for tourists to the North East and future tourism development requires to maintain and safeguard these resources in order to continue to make the area attractive to visitors.

2.28 Business tourism plays an important role in bringing financial benefit to the North East, maintaining jobs and creating new employment opportunities. Venues such as the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre and the many hotels in the area attract a variety of business-related conferences. The structure plan and local plans must seek to encourage and support the tourist industry in the North East, whilst continuing to foster environmental awareness of the impact of tourist development on the built and natural environment. For tourism to prosper in the North East and bring new employment opportunities, particularly to rural areas, it requires to be supported by a first class transportation infrastructure.