The Environment Agency has today (Wednesday 30 July) set out key
recommendations to help unlock the economic and environmental
benefits of industrial clusters across England.
Upcoming planning reforms – including the universal coverage of
spatial development strategies – will be essential in ensuring
that the Humber, Teesside and HyNet (North West) industrial hubs
can deliver the sustainable and long-term growth the country
needs. In a newly published
report, Environment Agency has recommended for industrial
clusters to be better recognised in future planning reforms
ensuring the country makes the most of the sustainable
development opportunities they offer.
The report highlights the importance of proactively planning for
industrial clusters in local plans for growth, to help kickstart
new projects and drive forward local growth, by ensuring new
clusters are built with the right environmental infrastructure,
such as sufficient water supply, to operate sustainably.
The report also identified several challenges facing the
long-term growth of industrial clusters – including availability
of water resources and climate-related shocks, such as flooding.
The Environment Agency has outlined solutions to mitigate these
potential challenges, such as introducing strategic growth plans
and using existing planning tools at a cluster scale to help
reduce any planning hurdles they face.
The Environment Agency is providing its environmental expertise
and evidence to support better planning for industrial clusters,
delivering on actions in the Regulation Action Plan and
Industrial Strategy Zones Action Plan.
The EA will also consider how new approaches to permitting
industrial clusters could unlock economic growth, with the
current regime offering limited options for new industries to be
set up.
Working with the government and industry, the EA will explore how
providing technical advice on how permitting could be adapted may
help accommodate new growth in already constrained areas but
being clear that permitting alone is not the solution and
pressures on the environment from non-permitted sources must also
be addressed.
Environment Agency Chief Executive Philip Duffy
said:
Delivering genuinely sustainable growth is core to the
Environment Agency's mission.
Today's report sets out how well-planned industrial clusters can
accelerate delivery of the government's growth and clean energy
missions whilst protecting water, air and land. We stand ready to
work with the government to use this evidence to make a reality
of sustainable industrial clusters.
Industrial clusters are economic regions with carbon-intensive
industries, such as oil refining, manufacturing, and chemical
production. They are typically located along major rivers and
estuaries, allowing businesses to share infrastructure, gain
greater access to nearby markets and benefit from highly skilled
workforces.
The nation's changing climate was also found to be a significant
threat to industrial clusters. Located in coastal and estuarine
zones, they will face the immediate results of rising sea levels
and extreme weather.
New net zero infrastructure must be designed for more extreme
climate conditions, while existing infrastructure must be more
climate resilient. Failing infrastructure can cause serious risks
to the environment from pollution incidents, as well as cause
significant economic damage to commercial operations.
Developers and local authorities are being urged to ensure their
design processes incorporate future climate impacts, such as
rising sea levels and increased flood risk, as required by
national planning policy. New permitting requirements now also
require operators to incorporate climate risk assessments into
how they run and manage their sites.
The Environment Agency is an enabler of growth and the
government's clean energy mission, with its permitting and
planning advice being an important contributor to sustainable
development whilst giving businesses and investors' confidence in
their decision-making. The Environment Agency is improving its
processes for permitting and planning so they are clear, fast,
responsive and underpinned by evidence. This contributes to a
growing economy, improved living standards and climate resilient
places where everyone is healthy, better protected and can
prosper.
The EA is committed to working with government to ensure that its
regulation and advice is fit for purpose and has welcomed the
recommendations in the recent Corry Review, which set out how
environmental regulators can work better together to enable
growth whilst delivering environmental improvements.
The report also follows the government's Industrial
Strategy, which will drive long-term growth in key sectors
that are sustainable, resilient and distributed across the
country. These sectors include clean energy, advanced
manufacturing and digital and technologies.
