Responding to the Government’s recent consultation on the London Plan, first adopted in 2021 and due for review next year, Policy & Public Affairs Director for the UK Warehousing Association (UKWA), Edwin Morgan, has underlined the vital importance of warehousing to London.
“Warehousing is essential for consumers and business to get the goods they need in time, and to the smooth functioning of international trade and key public services, including healthcare,” he said. “Despite this, there is a concerning lack of available land in and around London for industrial and logistics development, with thousands of hectares originally earmarked for such development instead lost to other uses. This worrying situation is being exacerbated by sky high rents that are simply unaffordable for many warehousing businesses and a strong indicator that significant demand for warehousing is not being met.”
In its submission to the ‘Towards a new London Plan’ consultation, UKWA has welcomed the acknowledgement of critical industrial land shortages and the document’s suggestion to “set out at a strategic level what industrial land needs to be protected for each borough and include targets for industrial capacity.”
The Association has also supported the option of introducing new industrial land designations in low quality parts of the green belt (particularly the grey belt), which is in line with national policy.
While recognising and endorsing the potential for the co-location of industrial businesses with other types of business or uses, such as vertical farms being co-located with restaurants or music venues, UKWA has warned that safety should be a key consideration and not all businesses would be suitable for such co-location.
Edwin concludes, “London has already lost 18% of its industrial land between 2001 and 2020 alone. So, while we are encouraged that the new London Plan consultation document seeks to find ways of protecting industrial land in and around the Capital, UKWA remains concerned that the Government’s ambitious housing targets will place land for warehousing and logistics under further pressure. Therefore, we will continue to engage with the GLA as the plan develops and ensure that the voice of warehousing is heard loud and clear on this vital issue.”
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