Going the last mile

The logistics sector has changed dramatically in recent years, through the rise of last mile logistics.  This has disrupted the traditional supply chain model, increasing demand for premises in, or near to, urban areas.

This spatial shift in demand presents a number of land use planning challenges.  How do authorities plan for growth in demand in the face of significant pressures from competing land uses – particularly in areas that may not traditionally have viewed themselves as logistics locations?

Within this context (and the National Planning Policy Framework (2018) requirement for local plans to accommodate and plan for the needs of the sector) Lichfields has researched the views of a selection of local authority planning and economic development officers to understand approaches to planning for the needs of the last mile logistics sector.