Town Centres and Shopping

66. Town centres are an invaluable resource providing a mix of services and facilities and offering accessibility by alternative means of transport including walking, cycling, bus and rail. The concentration of shops, leisure, cultural and entertainment facilities, public services and employment opportunities reduces the need for people to travel elsewhere to meet their needs.

67. In Hampshire, the commitment to town centres is traditionally strong. A great deal of public money has been invested in their physical, social and economic structure, especially to strengthen their key retail role. The future success of town centres lies in maintaining and enhancing their vitality and viability. A renewed emphasis has been placed upon the importance of this within PPG6, which states that structure plans should set out a clear strategy for their future. The Supplementary Planning Guidance, Town Centres and Out-of-Centre-Development, adopted by the Hampshire planning authorities in March 1997, should be read in conjunction with Policies S1 to S4.

S1 Planning permission will be granted for development which maintains and/or enhances the vitality and viability of the town centres of:

Aldershot Farnborough Leigh Park Romsey

Alton Fleet North End Shirley

Andover Fratton New Milton Southampton

Basingstoke Gosport Petersfield Southsea

Bitterne Havant Portsmouth Totton

Cosham Hythe Portswood Waterlooville

Eastleigh Lymington Ringwood Winchester

Fareham

by:

(i) supporting the primary shopping function of centres;

(ii) diversifying land uses in the centres, in particular: employment and educational opportunities; leisure, entertainment and cultural facilities; residential accommodation;

(iii) maintaining or improving the amenity and environment including the protection, enhancement or provision of open space; and

(iv) improving access, safety and security for public transport, pedestrians, cyclists and people with special needs.

The boundaries of town centres and development appropriate to the use and function of each will be determined in local plans.

68. The centres listed in Policy S1 provide the hierarchy of centres referred to in paragraph 1.5 of PPG6.

69. Certain types of land uses can help to increase the attractiveness and use of town centres to local residents, shoppers and visitors during the day and evening. Shopping in particular underpins the strength of town centres. Development proposals should not, therefore, undermine the retail function of town centres by leading to an overall loss in the quality and choice of shopping opportunities. However, an appropriate mix and balance of other land uses within the town centre as a whole, especially housing, leisure, entertainment and cultural facilities and employment and educational opportunities, is crucial.

70. A good environment also contributes to the attractiveness of town centres as places in which to live, work and shop. A range of environmental matters, including the design and quality of buildings, the streetscape and public open space can have a critical effect on the perception of quality. Quick and easy access in and around town centres, especially by public transport, and the provision of safe pedestrian and cycle routes will ease pollution and congestion. Adequate, high quality and convenient short-stay and competitively priced shoppers' car parking which discourages the attractiveness of all-day parking for commuters should be provided. Consideration should also be given to park-and-ride facilities for shoppers.

71. Different town centres will require a different mix of land uses and environmental and transport initiatives to safeguard their vitality and viability. The scale and type of development required to achieve vitality and viability will be determined by local planning authorities taking into account the use and function of the town centre and the role it plays in serving the local community. Local plans will provide a clear indication of the type of development which will be acceptable within each town, along with details about specific improvement initiatives. A variety of approaches and local initiatives tailored to meet the individual needs of different centres will be required.

72. Over time, economic circumstances will change. Local planning authorities will need to monitor the health of town centres against locally and nationally defined indicators of vitality and viability. The range of indicators will include measurement of the attraction, accessibility and amenity of the town centre and the economic indicators set out in PPG6 which take in to account the local characteristics of each centre. The likely impact of any development proposals will have regard to these indicators. The basic measures of vitality and viability are set out in Figure 1 of PPG6. Further guidance on suitable indicators of attraction, accessibility and amenity is set out in Vital and Viable Town Centres: Meeting the Challenge.

73. Many town centres have a rich built heritage and important historic environment. The conservation of the individual character of town centres and their buildings will be of key importance when assessing the suitability of development.

74. Local planning authorities will need to ensure that appropriate management mechanisms are in place to secure the implementation of town centre strategies. This may involve partnerships between a number of public and private agencies, the appointment of a town centre manager or setting up a town centre forum or action group.

S2 Local plans will promote policies to maintain and/or enhance the vitality and viability of district, local and village centres and ensure, where possible, adequate provision is made for local shops to meet day-to-day shopping requirements. The boundaries of district, local and village centres will be defined in local plans.

75. Outside the strategic hierarchy established in Policy S1, district, local and village centres of local importance will be identified and defined in local plans. These centres have an important role to play in providing an immediate service to local communities and are critical for people who may be unable to walk long distances, and for people without the use of a car, especially in rural areas. They can also have an important community or social role to play.

76. Local plans should encourage the use and upgrading of these centres to safeguard their vitality and viability, and should indicate, where appropriate, qualitative and quantitative improvements necessary to enhance the shopping and other services provided.

77. Independent traders and small parades of shops also help to reduce the need to travel. Provision should where possible be made in local plans to protect the supply of local shops to meet the day-to-day shopping requirements of local communities.

78. In rural areas, farm shops can play a role in meeting the needs of rural communities and should be encouraged, provided the range of goods sold is produced mainly on site and does not undermine shopping provision in existing centres.

S3 In allocating sites for retail development in local plans, local planning authorities will ensure that, where possible, all types of retail development locate within town centres or, where suitable town centre sites are not available, on edge-of-centre sites. Only in the absence of edge-of-centre sites will out-of-centre sites be considered. In assessing the scope for further retail development the following factors will be taken into account:

(i) the scale, location and choice of existing shopping facilities, their use and function and the likely impact of new retail development on their vitality and viability;

(ii) the requirement for different types of shopping provision;

(iii) the results of monitoring the supply and take-up of retail floorspace; and

(iv) current retail market trends and retailer requirements.

79. Policy S3 provides the basis for the application of the sequential test in local plans, introduced in Revised PPG6, i.e. the assessment of need and, if necessary, the identification of sites for additional development.

80. Shopping development should, where possible, be located within existing and proposed town centres. Maintaining and enhancing the range and quality of shops in town centres, especially the comparison shopping element, is important to safeguard town centre vitality and viability in line with Policy S1. Local plans should encourage retailers to adopt a more flexible approach towards store formats, including smaller, more compact stores and more restrictive car parking requirements, to help accommodate most new retail development within existing town centres.

81. Not all town centres will have suitable sites for additional shopping development. In historic town centres, the conservation of the built environment may limit opportunities for growth or change. Some town centres are in need of a period of consolidation. Local planning authorities will need therefore to assess the scope for additional provision in each town centre and the need for additional floorspace or other shopping requirements taking account of Policy S1. When allocating sites, the local planning authorities should have regard to the locational and market requirements of the retail industry.

82. Where there is an identified need for additional shopping provision which can not otherwise be met within a town centre, local planning authorities should allocate suitable sites to meet future requirements in line with other policies of this Plan. Edge-of-centre sites, within easy walking distance of the main shopping centre offer an opportunity to avoid duplication of parking provision and provide facilities which can serve the needs of both a new store and the town centre and enable shoppers to meet a number of requirements with one trip. Only in the absence of town centre and edge-of-centre sites, or redevelopment opportunities, to meet identified need, should alternative locations be considered.

83. The likely scale of future shopping provision required to meet the needs of the local community is ultimately a matter for local planning authorities to determine. However, because the retail market is rapidly changing, local planning authorities will need to review and monitor how far key assumptions remain relevant and appropriate to the local economic circumstances. Criteria (i) to (iv) of Policy S3 set out the key considerations which will need to be examined by local planning authorities to enable an up-to-date assessment of the likely scale of the need for future retail development required in each centre.

S4 Planning permission will not be granted for retail development outside town centres except where:

(i) there is an identified need for additional shopping provision which cannot appropriately be met on sites within town centres, on the edge of centres, or allocated in local plans; and

(ii) the proposal would not individually or cumulatively with other recently completed or outstanding retail development undermine the vitality and viability of any existing or proposed town centre; and

(iii) the site is accessible by public transport, is not likely to significantly increase the number and length of car journeys and makes adequate provision for access by cyclists and pedestrians; and

(iv) the development is not proposed on sites allocated for housing, employment and open space unless the local planning authority is satisfied that the need for such allocated uses no longer exists. Where appropriate, conditions may be attached to restrict the main range of goods to be sold and to control the number and size of shopping units.

84. Policy S4 provides the basis for considering new retail proposals outside town centres but within existing urban areas where need has been established and a town centre, edge-of-centre or allocated site is unavailable through the application of the sequential test.

85. Out-of-centre superstores and retail warehouses, along with other new retailing formats, have extended the range and choice of facilities and can play a complementary role to town centre provision. However out-of-centre stores rely on car-borne trade and trips are typically single purpose, particularly for food. This single-purpose out-of-centre trip compares unfavourably with trips to town centres, where reliance on the car is lower, public transport is a more viable option and a single trip can achieve several purposes.

86. There is a need to guide all types of shopping development, including food superstores and retail warehouses, to locations which help to reduce car use and offer a choice of means of transport, encourage urban regeneration and enhance the attractiveness and vitality and viability of existing urban areas.

87. Shopping development on sites outside existing centres will only be permitted where no alternative sites are available and provided that there is a quantitative and qualitative need for the development. Proposals will also be subject, where appropriate, to the countryside policies of this Plan. Developers will be expected to provide an assessment of both impact on existing centres, existing out-of-centre floorspace and local plan retail allocations, and evidence of an unsuccessful site search, consistent with the requirements of PPG6, before planning permission is considered for development outside an existing urban area.

88. All new shopping development should be accessible by a choice of means of transport, particularly public transport. The number and length of car journeys likely to be associated with the proposed development will be a key consideration for the purposes of development control.

89. The cumulative impact of proposed new retail development outside town centres with recently completed and outstanding retail development should not adversely affect the overall range and quality of shopping facilities within town centres; nor should it undermine plans for, or recent investment in, the redevelopment and revitalisation of town centres, or undermine a town centre strategy set out in a local plan. The likely impact of new development on the rural economy and district, local and village centres will also be taken into account by local planning authorities.

90. The cumulative impact of new shopping proposals will be assessed against the indicators of vitality and viability set out in PPG6 and identified by local planning authorities. Where permission is granted for additional floorspace in out-of-centre locations, it may be appropriate to attach planning conditions to restrict the main range of goods to be sold and to include conditions or restrictions to prevent the sub-division of floorspace into smaller shopping units and/or the expansion of sales or storage floorspace, to ensure that the development does not change in character or scale over time to become development for which planning permission would not have been granted.

91. Shopping development is not appropriate on land allocated for other uses within a development plan, in particular land reserved for housing, employment uses or open space, unless the local planning authority is satisfied that there is no longer a need to safeguard the land for other purposes.