Council under fire for 'driving businesses away'

Independent business leaders write to council saying their needs are 'being ignored'

INDEPENDENT business leaders have launched a blistering attack on West Berkshire Council, saying that a lack of employment land is driving companies away and turning Newbury into a dormitory town.

Last month, Bayer announced it was leaving its UK headquarters in Newbury after 32 years in the town and moving its 470 employees to Green Park in Reading.

At last week’s Newbury Vision conference, West Berkshire Council chief executive, Nick Carter, admitted that Newbury “could not compete with Reading or London” when it came to attracting and retaining major employers.

This week, several commercial property agents have written to the council telling them it needs to start listening to the business community – or risk more big-name companies leaving.

An impassioned letter, signed by Deal Varney, Richardson Commercial, Quintons, Brunsden Associates and YA Property Consultants, write that Newbury has lost in the region of 250,000 sq ft of existing commercial buildings to residential conversion and development in recent years, enough to house around 2,500 office workers.

“It remains apparent that employment land capable of development for commercial buildings continues to take a back seat on the agenda,” the letter says.

“Lack of employment land, apathy towards business and a planning department that is woefully understaffed in relation to the business and economic development needs of a town forecast to grow to nearly 60,000 by 2030, have lead us to a point where businesses are put off or excluded by the lack of choice.”

The letter also expressed concern that the council-led redevelopment of the London Road Industrial Estate (Faraday Road) will increase the pressure on existing occupiers, who will be displaced as a result of redevelopment, since no additional land has been made available to house these occupiers – many of them long-established in the town.

“Much of the existing stock is sub-standard and Newbury needs to provide better premises in order to retain and attract commercial occupiers.

“We believe Newbury is at a crossroads.

“It has always been a great place to live but, if we continue to ignore business and its needs, we will become the dormitory town that is so often mentioned.”

Last month, Richard Deal, one of the directors of the long-established commercial property specialist Deal Varney, accused the council of having an “anti-business mentality” and said the year-long closure of Boundary Road would see Newbury “closed for business”.

In this week’s letter, it adds: “A huge consultation process to identify additional housing sites has just been completed, yet no such exercise has been undertaken in respect of land for employment.”

The letter says the council needs to identify additional land for employment purposes and protect existing employment sites against residential development.

Responding to the concerns, the council’s chief executive, Nick Carter, said: “Newbury remains a very attractive location for businesses and we know there are a number of local firms looking to expand.

“There is already office space available in the Newbury area and our development of the London Road Industrial Estate will offer employers still more choice. Changing demand over the coming decade and the need to match that with suitable space is at the forefront of our discussions as we continue to deliver this project.

“We recognise that there are challenges locally. Much of West Berkshire is protected and many people, including businesses, chose to locate here because of the attractive environment in which we live.

“We also know that we have to build more houses over the coming 20 years with much of that demand coming from the economic growth that is expected to continue in Newbury in that period.

“There’s still more to be done and we’ll continue to work with local businesses to support them, and understand and react to the needs of our business communities.”