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A rebound in demand for warehousing space after several quarters of declines has been threatened by the recent rise in local protests against development projects from Milton Keynes to Merseyside.
Increased spending on online shopping during Covid-19 lockdowns drove investment in storage space, but demand fell as consumers cut spending amid a cost of living crisis. However, the ecommerce market is expected to continue growing in the long term, with estate agent Savills seeing an uptick in inquiries.
Campaigns are raging against warehouse projects in Milton Keynes, and towns from St Helens, in Merseyside, to Towcester, in Northamptonshire, where DHL hopes to build a facility.
The UK has one of the largest ecommerce markets in the world, but faces constraints from its relatively small size and swaths of green space protected and overseen by local politicians who decide on building applications.
Property executives and ecommerce companies argue that local warehousing closer to residential areas mean shorter journeys and lower emissions, as well as more jobs. However, protesters are concerned about the impact on their living standards and the increased traffic.
“We’re not being Nimby-ish about this,” said Wayne Evans, a retired business consultant turned “pitchfork-wielding villager” who helped form the group Stop3000Trucks in Milton Keynes.
They are opposing plans for nine storage units and more than 90 HGV loading bays to be built between the villages of Cosgrove and Old Stratford, which they claim could create up to 3,000 truck journeys through the area daily. Frontier Estates, the developer, did not respond to a request for comment.
The power of local protests was underlined earlier this year, when a campaign helped derail plans by retail behemoth Amazon to open a large warehouse in the Yorkshire village of Scholes.
Almost 1,100 put in their objections to the local council’s consultation process, arguing that the “monstrosity” would turn much of the leafy area into an industrial site, with delivery vehicles disturbing residents into the night.
Dan Shivtiel and his group, which spearheaded the campaign against the development, raised more than £17,000 from supporters. They recruited two traffic and landscape consultants, before facing off against two representatives from Amazon at a council meeting in March. Four out of seven councillors voted against the project.
Amazon, which could appeal against the decision, said it is still “considering our options for this location”.
Property industry and ecommerce executives worry local protests are complicating the already lengthy process of obtaining approval for warehousing projects.
David Sleath, chief executive of FTSE 100 warehouse-owner Segro, said: “Local people [will say] we don’t need much [warehouse space]. But you’re not building it for the local population. You’re building it for the benefit of the national infrastructure.”
He acknowledged that residents should be consulted, but said to have a really productive economy and an efficient supply chain, you need to plan things nationally, at least. “One of the issues with our planning process is that it’s all done locally,” he added.
“The planning process in the UK is extremely challenging to deliver logistics space at scale,” said one executive at Cushman & Wakefield, one of the world’s largest property consultants, who said they were involved with two projects that were “deliverable” but had got “stuck in the planning pipeline”.
Kevin Mofid, head of logistics property research at Savills, warned delays to developments could create “a real problem with the availability of land” in the future.
The offer of jobs picking goods off warehouse shelves has also failed to win over many locals. Residents of Scholes in Yorkshire were told that Amazon’s warehouse would bring up to 2,400 jobs within three years. But Shivtiel said Amazon’s goal is to “robotise” its operations, and did not expect jobs to remain for long.
In Milton Keynes, after the council designated the area for development, Evans said residents expected a business estate with “quality jobs”. Now they worry that warehouses would instead offer employment to “temporary workers on low-salary contracts”.
But despite the successful campaign against Amazon, Evans felt his group was fighting an uphill battle.
Evans acknowledged the cash-strapped local council was under pressure to generate funds. “That is the reality of the world we live in: everybody wants a toilet brush delivered [to them] rather than getting off their ass and going to the high street.”
