APPENDIX 9
Memorandum from the Land Authority for
Wales
INTRODUCTION
1. The Land Authority was created by the last
Labour Government in 1975, and was continued in existence under
the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 ("the 1980
Act"), when the originating Community Land Act 1975 was repealed.
2. The Land Authority's statutory function is
of "acquiring land in Wales in which in its opinion needs
to be made available for development, and of disposing of it to
other persons (for development by them) at a time which is in
the Authority's opinion appropriate to meet the need".
3. In its activities the Authority is wholly
self-financing. It pays Corporation Tax on its trading profit.
THE SIGNIFICANCE
OF LAND
ASSEMBLY
4. The availability of suitable sites is critical
to the economic development process. The Authority is not a developer
of land (other than to provide infrastructure to facilitate development),
and can therefore be totally focused on making land available.
5. The Authority enjoys two statutory powers
which assist in the discharge of its functions. The power of compulsory
purchase, which, although not used extensively, can be integral
to ensuring that land is assembled within a certain time frame.
Additionally, the Authority has a power known as "title cleansing",
which overrides all easements and restrictions on the title to
land which it acquires, and converts them to compensation. Again
this ensures that when a developer acquires land from the Authority,
the land is free from all constraints and is immediately capable
of development.
THE AUTHORITY'S
ROLE IN
THE PROVISION
OF LAND
FOR INDUSTRY
6. The role of the Authority can be divided
in two distinct parts : the provision of sites directly by the
Authority; and the provision of sites for and at the request of
other bodies, principally WDA and local authorities.
7. The Authority maintains a limited portfolio
of potential industrial sites, and works closely with local planning
authorities in the allocation of sites as part of the Unitary
Plan process.
8. One of the three Strategic Objectives set
annually by the Secretary of State for Wales for the Authority
is the assembly of Strategic Employment Sites (the other two being
urban regeneration and social housing). This was in recognition
of the importance of having sites of not less than 50 acres readily
available for inward investment or indigenous expansion.
10. The Authority's programme of industrial
land acquisition is closely related to local planning authorities'
schemes for bringing forward development plans and evolving policies
for releasing such sites. It achieves this by maintaining close
and continuous liaison with these authorities and the Welsh Development
Agency and by investigating the practical problems of developing
land. These include ownership and other legal problems, the provision
of road and rail access, dealing with new traffic generation,
provision of services and by solving problems of poor ground conditions
and contamination.
11. The introduction of sustainability objectives
into planning has led to the creation of large mixed-use schemes
containing residential, employment and commercial development.
The Authority has been in a unique position in Wales to bring
forward such schemes, together with a series of private sector
partners. Additional this has been very advantageous in the process
of bringing forward industrial land. Apart from obvious planning
gains, industrial sites have benefited from the provision of new
highways and infrastructure funded primarily out of the proceeds
of residential and commercial land sales.
12. Within the last two years the Land Authority,
working closely with the Welsh Development Agency, has acquired
three major industrial sites : 250 acres at Duffryn, Newport (for
LG), 100 acres at Bridgend and 100 acres at Felindre in Swansea.
13. Also worthy of note is the significant role
which urban regeneration plays in economic development and job
creation. Attached to this submission is a list of major schemes
(not printed) undertaken by the Authority in recent years.
INWARD INVESTMENT
AND INDIGENOUS
ENTERPRISES
14. The Authority believes that there is a balance
to be struck between the assembly of land for both purposes. It
must be recognised that there is a considerable opportunity cost
in acquiring, holding, and providing infrastructure to employment
sites on a speculative basis. However, job creation is of such
high priority that such costs must be incurred.
15. Even indigenous expansion is jeopardised
if land is not readily available, and the "competition"
for such investment will increase with the creation of the RDAs
in England.
Sir Geoffrey Inkin
Chairman
15 January 1998
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