Grange Motors is a successful franchise car dealership group, which represents Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin, Bentley, Lamborghini, McLaren and Rolls Royce. Grange has a long heritage of providing employment in the Brentwood economy, and was looking for a site to expand its operations. After a site search process identified no suitable existing development sites, Brentwood Park Gateway sought to bring forward development on a site within the Green Belt. The site would meet the requirements of Grange Motors and incorporate a range of other employment generating uses, maximising the potential of excellent strategic access to strengthen the economic offer of Brentwood.
HJA was instructed to make the economic case for the proposed development.
Using data on the population, labour market, sectors of employment and business base, the existing strengths and weaknesses of the Brentwood economy were set out. This informed how the proposed development would overcome current issues and address existing needs of the local economy.
HJA conducted a review of relevant policy documentation from local, regional and national governments. This informed how the proposed development would align with the goals and policies of each actor. From this research, it was identified that the proposed development would support various economic growth and spatial strategies in Brentwood and beyond.
Further research into the employment land strategy of the local council was undertaken. This identified a constrained supply of commercial land and a subsequent high stock of outdated industrial plots. Limited new space was coming forward, which was identified as a key growth constraint. Brentwood Park Gateway was identified as an excellent location for meeting identified and additional need, a spatially sound opportunity given the site’s connection to strategic transport infrastructure, and reducing the local economy’s current reliance on a large single industrial site.
Gross direct and net additional construction and operational phase impacts were estimated in order to characterise the beneficial economic effects the proposed development would have on the Brentwood area and its residents.
Our work has helped to contribute to a successful outline planning application for the scheme, which was validated by Brentwood Borough Council in January 2022.
