Safeguarding Economic Development Land and Monitoring Supply

The RDS also recognises that there is a need to safeguard the supply of land currently used for existing economic development from other competing uses in the urban area including housing, while taking into account whether it is still realistic to protect sites that have remained vacant or undeveloped for a considerable period of time. Within this context, location and accessibility are important factors that need to be considered, and these are often subject to changing circumstances. Therefore, it is clearly important that the overall quantity of land allocated for economic development purposes, as well as the location and type of economic development are closely monitored to ensure that there is a continuous supply of land for economic purposes. Such monitoring will help to identify any shortfalls that may arise.