Warehouse development and town planning policies in the UK

Abstract

Purpose

This paper offers a review of national and local planning policies towards warehouse development within the UK.

Design/methodology/approach

The first sections of the paper provide a description of the simple method of enquiry and sources of information used in the paper, outlines of the main factors driving the demand for warehousing space in the UK, and of the nature, scale and operation of modern warehouses, and a short review into the limited literature published to date, on town planning and on how it has influenced warehouse development. This is followed by an examination of some of the planning issues associated with warehouse development, two mini-case studies of how these issues are perceived and played out, a discussion of some of the issues raised in this examination and the mini-case studies.

Findings

Town planning policies were traditionally seen as a restraint on the development of warehousing but while current national and local planning policies make little explicit reference to warehousing, they have often been cited in support of new warehouse development because such policies emphasise the importance of supporting economic growth and fostering the conditions in which businesses can invest and expand.

Research limitations/implications

The paper has a number of limitations, not least that its source material is drawn from the Internet, and in that no primary data were collected from warehouse developers, warehouse operators, local planning officers or local authority councillors, and that the geographical coverage was limited.

Originality/value

The paper offers an accessible review of the current town planning issues associated with warehouse development in the UK.

Citation

Jones, P. (2022), "Warehouse development and town planning policies in the UK", Property Management, Vol. 40 No. 4, pp. 527-540. https://doi.org/10.1108/PM-09-2021-0066