Salesbury Hall Farm
Redevelopment of the Salesbury Hall Farm, Ribchester
Demand Assessment & Strategic Fit Analysis
REDEVELOPMENT OF THE Salesbury hall farm, ribchester
A viability ASSESSMENT AND STRATEGIC FIT ANALYSIS
January 2007
Introduction & Brief
Rural Innovation has been instructed to assess the likely viability of the proposed development of approximately 1300 sq m (net) of workspace (Use Class B1) at Salesbury Hall Farm, Ribchester, as defined in Halliday Clark Architects submitted drawings. This report provides that assessment based upon analysis current research, existing and planned supply, market context and latent demand. Having reached conclusions relating to need, it then goes on to consider the strategic policy and programme context relating to the proposed development.
Salesbury Hall Farm extends to 350 acres, situated east of Ribchester on the alluvial plain adjacent to the southern banks of the River Ribble. A former intensive dairy unit, it has an extensive and substantial built environment including:
· Manor House (new build replacement on former site)
· 16,800 sq ft of traditional stone buildings forming the original steading
· 35,500 sq ft of modern agricultural buildings of substantial scale and massing, formed steel and concrete construction and sited on the extended farm yard
· A second detached dwelling house within the farm yard
· 5,700 sq ft of former gravel works sited adjacent to the River Ribble
Intensive farming ceased on the holding following change of ownership in 1999 / 2000; the former gravel workings are currently lying dormant, although its planning status is maintained, allowing recommencement of extraction and processing, subject to updated licensing conditions. The majority of the built environment will be considered as agricultural in planning terms, but the gravel buildings benefit from existing B1 / B2 use, and so could be refurbished for employment purpose without the need for planning consent.
Details setting out Rural Innovation’s credentials to provide this assessment are included in the appendices.
1 Supply of Workspace
Supply of modern, fit for purpose offices in the Ribble Valley and North Preston areas is limited; for example the ODPM Commercial and Industrial Floor Space (2005) statistics record 26,000 sq metres of office floorspace in Ribble Valley, representing only 5.2% of total commercial floorspace. This compares with 7.3% in South Ribble, 10% in Chorley and 11% in Lancaster.
When this proportion is compared with the 28% of the district’s business stock likely to require some form of ‘office’ premises[1], and the 67.9% of the economically active population of the Ribble Valley district that are engaged in ‘white collar’ or office based occupations[2] it is clear that clear that entrepreneurial and economic activity in the Ribble Valley is likely to be constrained by lack of suitable premises. This trend is also evident in Wyre and the rural areas to the North of Preston.
This conclusion is further supported by the following statistics[3]:
· The Ribble Valley population exceeds national average for professional / managerial occupations (31.27% v 26.74%), Higher Educational qualifications (34.3% above L4 v 26.5% national average) and homeworking (12.97% v 9.61%) indicating that a level of latent demand is likely to exist for local office accommodation
· Use of public transport to travel to work is substantially below the national average in the Ribble Valley district (2.87% v 11.25%) indicating the level of out commuting
· The Ribble Valley has 12% fewer residents that travel less than 5km to work than the Lancashire average
· The Ribble Valley has 8% more residents that travel between 5 & 60km to work than the Lancashire average
The substantive increase in VAT registrations for Business Service enterprise in Ribble Valley, Preston and Wyre[4] also point towards likely demand for additional office space in the area. The Ribble Valley has recorded significant growth in VAT; an increase of 10% between 2002 – 2006 compared to an average of 5.2% for Lancashire and 4.8% for the UK, most of which was in the Business Services and Hotels and Restaurants sectors.
The impact of the economic performance of the Ribble Valley from the current travel to work dynamic of the borough is clear when considering the disparity between the household earnings when measured against place of residence, or place of work.
The maps below show the different level of household earnings by district, relative to the national and regional average. It is clear that workplace earnings are substantively lower in the Ribble Valley than earnings assessed by residence, demonstrating that economic activity within the borough is failing to capture the full potential offered by its economically active population.
The Ribble Valley Local Plan recognises the need to provide new employment sites and anticipates material provision of workspace on 3 key sites; the former Brockhall Hospital Site (now Brockhall Village), Ribble Valley Enterprise Park at Barrow and Link59 Business Park. These sites have produced very limited supply of workspace during the plan period to date; the remaining employment allocation at Brockhall Village has now been take up by consent for 26 live / work units[5], issues relating to land release and development viability have slowed down the provision of premises at Ribble Valley Enterprise Park, and whilst Link59 continues to be built out, the majority of space provided there has been light industrial rather than office space.
The perception of an under supply of office space is supported by past research and analysis of the existing local market context.
The 2003 NWDA Rural Workspace Audit[6] identified a gap in provision of rural office & light industrial space:
‘there is very limited incidence of availability across the entire county, particularly in ..the area between North East Preston, Longridge and Garstang’ para 5.3
The gap in provision of office space along the A59 corridor is evident from the map included below that illustrates the distribution of office stock (measured by rateable value) across Lancashire.
Source: An Audit of Rural Workspace – NWDA 2003
Since this research there has been very limited provision of new office premises in the borough; indeed the author of this report has subsequently had to develop its own offices in order to meet a requirement for more space at a modern specification[7].
2 demand for rural workspace
When assessing the likely demand for new workspace, it is necessary to consider both existing demand and latent demand. Existing demand can be assessed from an analysis of the current market context, evidenced from research and applied analysis of existing supply, take up and letting terms.
2.1 Market Demand
There have been relatively few developments of modern office space in the Ribble Valley, the area to the North East of Preston, or around Garstang; those worthy of note are as follows:
The Printworks, Ribble Valley Enterprise Park
18,000sq ft developed in 2001 / 2002 and now fully let to professional services companies on short to medium term agreements (3-5 years) at rents of between £10 - £13 per sq ft. Agents Bailey Deakin Hamilton (Graham Deakin) receive regular enquiries for additional space which they are currently unable to service. The Ribble Valley Enterprise Park is a 25 acre site allocated for B1 (office), B2 & B8 (general industrial and distribution) use. Development of the Printworks, and related infrastructure was subsidised by European Grant Funding (no longer available).
In 2003 The Printworks was acquired by New Close Properties. Whilst it took some two and a half years to completely let the building, it remains fully occupied. The most recent lettings were at £13 per sq ft, although this includes a £2 per sqft service charge.
New Close Properties have recently completed the purchase of the remaining 26 acres of the Enterprise Park which has consent for hotel, restaurant, leisure and B1 offices consent; a McDonalds and small Somerfield store has recently been developed, but to date no additional office space has been provided.
It should be noted that different messages about the Enterprise Park have been received from other property sources, especially agents. Comment was made that whilst there is theoretically supply, the land is being held back from development at this time because of longer-term aspirations for residential use.
Bee Mill, Ribchester
Michael Banister has converted Bee Mill into a complex of small industrial and office units. The Mill is almost equi-distant to M6 junction 31 and M65 junction 6, and is accessed via the A59.
The Mill extends to 60,000 sq ft of which 5,000 sq ft is office space. The remainder provides industrial and warehousing accommodation. Currently there is no vacant space. Indeed the Mill has been fully occupied for the past three years, with some 30 companies located there. Income levels are based on £3 per sq ft rental for the industrial space and £7 per sq ft for the offices.
There is no additional availability of modern workspace in Ribchester; three other buildings have been converted to workspace (despite the strong residential market) by local businesses – the Ctrl Key building, Workhouse Marketing and the former Ribchester Hospital. All are fully occupied by their owners; the need for these businesses to buy buildings suitable for residential use and convert / maintain as workspace demonstrates the lack of supply in the area.
The Sidings, Whalley
Andrew Ronnan has developed eight buildings (the final building was finished Spring 2006), ranging from between 1500sq ft to 6500 sq ft over the period from 1998. All buildings are fully let to a range of occupiers in the B1 & B2 Use Class. The types of occupiers reflect the ‘village / service centre’ location, and include a veterinarian practice, health care professionals and food manufacturer. Following completion of the eighth building, the site will be fully developed.
Backridge Farm, Bashall Eaves
A mixed craft and visitor business development within a farmyard in a rural setting; this development has proven extremely popular with local businesses and has supported rapid growth of its early occupiers. The site has an interiors and design focus with occupiers including candle makers Melt and The Lilac Room selling direct to visiting customers as well as via wholesale and web-based channels.
Gisburn Enterprise Park
3 units from 650 – 3500sq ft (in total) offered at £8.50 psf. The units took a long time to let, and seem to be suffering from the lack of broadband and serviced / shared facilities such as meeting rooms, kitchens, informal meeting areas etc. We believe that the premises are now occupied but are unaware of terms.
Other ‘available’ office space includes suites in former administration buildings at Brockhall Village (up to 4,500sq ft) and the former Ribchester Cottage Hospital (4,000sq ft). Neither of these sites offers modern, open plan space or shared meeting and café facilities.
Poorsland Barns, Slaidburn
A small barn conversion providing 9 units of between 250 & 750 sq ft; within 3 months of completion 7 of the 9 units are let with terms agreed on the remaining to pending legal documentation. Occupiers are craft and ‘artisan’ businesses paying rents for basic workshop type space that is understood to be in the region of £5 - £6 psf.
Longridge
There is currently no supply of modern office premises in the town or on the periphery (excepting the former Ribchester Hospital where 4,500 sq ft are occupied by a single business). A Riding Builders Limited has yet to bring forward a mixed residential and workspace scheme at the Old Poplar Foundry to the north east of the town on the Inglewhite Road. The plans include approximately 1500 sq m of office space, part refurbishment of original workspace and part new build, including 4 live/work apartments with ancillary workshops.
During consultation with two local agents[8], both independently expressed the view that there continues to be a consistent demand for modern office units for small businesses (between 250 – 1500 sq ft) along the A59 corridor and in the Longridge area.
BAE Samlesbury
Plans have been approved for up to 1,000,000 sq ft of workspace on the BAE site at Samlesbury (within Ribble Valley District). The development is planned as an Aerospace Centre of Excellence and it is the expectation of the owners and Regional Development Agency that the space will be occupied by businesses operating within the BAE supply chain.
It is not anticipated that space will be available, or particularly suitable, for non aerospace related businesses.
North Preston
Agents consulted report a very high demand for offices in the North Preston area. Cable Court (Pittman Way) has a few offices becoming vacant from December ranging from 956 sq ft to 3000 sq ft. Agents report a steady stream of enquiries and expect these to be filled; marketing of these office also prompts enquiries for smaller scale offices (up to 2,000 sq feet).
City Office Park offices at Longridge / Grimsargh J31 are larger and range from 5,000 to 30,000 sq ft. These were fully let before the development was completed and agents have an additional register of interested parties.
The Millenium City Park development on Longridge Road at Red Scar is at an early stage. The new Booths HQ building and Lancashire Conference Hub are at the forefront of office development commensurate with Motorway corridor business parks with footprints between 5000 and 20000 sq feet. The level of enquiries has been very high and has led to further development which agents are confident will be filled.
Consultation with the agents demonstrates that there is a lack of smaller scale (500 – 2,500 sq ft) and flexible offices in the area; many enquirers seek a more rural setting with easy travel and parking. All agents were confident that were such property available to the east of Clitheroe with good connections to the M6 would let successfully.
2.2 Regional Experience
When considering the likely viability of proposals, it is useful to consider experience of the take up of other rural workspace developments in the region. In recent years there has been an increase in the provision of modern offices in rural settings, normally resulting from conversions of traditional farm and estate buildings. Two particularly interesting examples in the Northwest are:
Hackthorpe Hall, Penrith (www.lowther-businesscentres.co.uk)
A very high quality scheme developed by the Lowther Estates situated on the A6, approximately 5 miles south of Junction 40 of the M6. The scheme offers 10,725 sq ft of offices in up to 15 units, together with a 6,500sq ft distribution centre housed in a converted agricultural building.