Newbury Weekly News

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Thursday, May 11, 2017
NEWBURY VISION2026CONFERENCE
Bayer ‘had sights set on
HQ closer to London’
BAYER always had one eye
on a site closer to London,
West Berkshire Council’s
chief executive claimed last
week.
The company left its UK
headquarters in Newbury
earlier this year after 32 years
in the town and relocated its 470
employees to Green Park in
Reading.
The district council came in
for some fierce criticism when
Bayer announced the plans,
with many saying it failed to do
enough to retain one of its
largest employers.
Last week, LiberalDemocrat
parliamentary candidate
Judith Buntingquizzed council
chief Nick Carter over what the
council did to try and keep
Bayer and what mistakes it had
learnt.
Ms Bunting asked: “My ques-
tion is about employment and
commercial development and
the loss of Bayer.
“It was no surprise to anyone
who lives in Newbury that the
Bayer lease was going to run
out.
“We also understand that
Bayer wanted to stay in
Newbury, that they really
wanted to be on the Faraday
Road site.
“So I wanted to ask, how
come they have gone to Read-
ing?
“We need high-tech employ-
ers in the future. What does
that say to companies looking
to come in here?
“I would love to know what
you did to keep Bayer here and
how are you going to change
that in the future so that we
don’t lose companies like
Hitachi and Amec as well?”
Mr Carter replied: “There
was a lot of conversation with
Bayer over a protracted period
in terms of options about stay-
ing in Newbury.
“I think they had an eye on
Reading and being closer to
London as well.
“I think it is fair to say that. It
was very clear from some of the
early conversations we had.
“We put options for London
Road to them. It would be
unfair to say they wanted to go
to London Road.
“They had concerns around
London Road in terms of deliv-
erability, they had concerns in
terms of what would be around
them.
“We then put a further option
to them in Newbury on a green-
field site which might have
been tricky to deliver but we
had a partner who was willing
to do that.
“And again, I think the
attraction of Green Park was
too much. Unfortunate, but we
certainly tried.
“I do genuinely think that
other sites closer to London
were always in their sights and
we were always competing with
those sites.”
Mr Carter added that the
council was doing as much as it
could to prevent the same thing
happening and has understand-
ing with some of its major
employers about what their
aspirations were.
However, he added: “I am not
giving any guarantees. At the
end of the day companies will
form their own view about
where they want to be.
“I still think Newbury, West
Berkshire, is a very attractive
place for companies and
perhaps a slightly more attrac-
tive place to live than perhaps
to locate.
“I think it is a bit more
complex than simply saying
‘can the councilkeep everyone
here?’.
“We will certainly try, but at
the end of the day there are a
range of other factors in play.”
Bayer switched itsUKHQtoReading thisyearafter32years inNewbury
Council saysbidtokeeppharmaceutical giant intownwasdoomed tofail
Report by DANCOOPER
email dan.cooper@newbur
twitter @danc_nwn
MarcusFranks
Town must move with the times
WEST Berkshire needs
more moder n commercial
buildings in order to retain
existing employers and
attract new businesses to
the area.
That was the view of Marcus
Franks, the councillor respon-
sible for overseeing the
Newbury Vision.
Mr Franks was responding
to concerns from the Liberal
Democrat parliamentary
candidate for Newbury, Judith
Bunting, at the Vision confer-
ence last week.
Ms Bunting asked what the
council was doing to ensure
that major employers did not
leave Newbury to go else -
where.
Mr Franks replied: “The
relationship with local busi-
nesses is important and we
believe we have got that.
“There are a number of
companies tha t are expanding
in Newbury and that is really
good news. We want to encour-
age that.
“But we also really need to
work with the LEP [Local
Enterprise Partnership] to sell
Newbury and West Berkshire
to new businesses looking to
invest in the UK.
“We need moder n commer-
cial buildings that are suitable
to modern businesses.
“London Road will deliver
some of that, but I think we
need to look for more.”
Business park is needed
to attract new companies
NEWBURY Town Council believes
that a new business park – accessi-
ble from the M4 – will be needed in
order to attract new and expanding
companies to the area.
It also feels that the retention of
young people, or the innovation gener-
ation as it describes them, is vital.
To help achieve that, it feels a short-
stay leisure proposition and an events
venue for 2,000-5,000 people should be
investigated.
The town council says that more
affordable, starter and student accom-
modation is also needed to improve the
offering for young people living locally.
Just 16 per cent of the population of
West Berkshire is aged between 20 and
35, compared to 29 per cent in Reading
and 20 per cent nationally.
Meanwhile, Newbury Town Council
is asking for the public’s help in draw-
ing up a town plan.
The aim of the document is to
‘conserve the best of the old’ and
encourage ‘ sympathetic ’ new develop-
ment in the town.
The chairman of the Newbury Town
Plan steering group, Anthony Pick,
previously said: “The purpose of the
town plan is to provide our ideas on
how Newbury might grow and develop
over that period, and the opportunities,
issues and constraints which we fore-
see.”
The town council will refer to it
when dealing with any planning appli-
cations that it considers in future.
The document is in the form of a 64-
page illustrated booklet, which picks
out 11 key principles relating to the
whole town.
Newbury Town Council has set up a
questionnaire for members of the
public to complete on its website
The draft town plan is scheduled to
be published in October 2017, with the
final version due to be completed by
March 2018.
LRIE redevelopment
is still a long way off
THE controversial redevelopment
of the London Road Industrial
Estate (LRIE) in Newbury won ’t be
happening any time soon.
That was the verdict from West
Berkshire Council chief executive
Nick Carter when asked when he
thought the work would start.
The council has long had aspira-
tions to regenerate the area and in
2014 it appointed St Modwen as its
preferred developer.
St Modwen submitted a master-
plan to build a mix of residential
accommodation and office space on
the site, but no formal planning
application has been submitted yet.
That is because the plans are
currently subject to a legal challenge
from rival developer Faraday Devel-
opments Limited.
A concerned member of the public,
who works on the LRIE, asked the
council’s chief executive Nick Carter
what plan was in place for the exist-
ing commercial units in London
Road when the site is redeveloped.
Mr Carter responded: “We have
started some conversations with
some of the employers on that site.
“I have made it clear in previous
discussions here, that the council
and St Modwen – St Modwen will take
the lead on this – will be working
with those employers on the indus-
trial estate.
“Where appropriate, we may well
be looking at relocation where that
something that might be mutually
acceptable.
“But at the moment, because of the
legal process we are in, we are not
doing a great deal.
“We are not looking at closing
down businesses in Newbury. What
we are wanting to do is rejuvenate
LondonRoad and create some of that
office space.
“We fully recognise there are other
operators, other employers there,
that Newbury need.
“Some of them may well stay on
the industrial estate, some may go
elsewhere. That maybe something
that is mutually beneficial.
“Once we have got through the
legal process, this, I suspect, is some-
thing that will come up at future
conferences.”
The LRIEworker then asked: “Is it
possible to give us some sort of
timescale, simply because I work on
the industrial estate and everyone I
speak to says they are in limbo?
“They can’t increase their work-
load because they just don’t know if
they’ll have a unit to finish up with
once the development goes ahead.”
Mr Carter responded: “Our hope
was that the legal process might have
moved forward by now. It seems to
have taken a little longer than we
thought.
“There is no ability for the council
to prompt the judges in this, they will
take whatever time they need.
“If we clear through that, then St
Modwen will need to submit a plan-
ning application, so we are some way
off from my point of view.”
The employee then said: “Are we
talking four or five years away?”
Mr Carter replied: “I wouldn’t be
surprised if it’s that – it might be a
little shorter, but not a lot shorter.
“Nothing is going to happen very
quickly is my message to you and
certainly the timescale you talked
about is where my head would be.”
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Newbury Weekly News