Out-Law News 3 min. read

Retail expert Portas calls for presumption in favour of town centre development and relaxation of planning rules


The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) should be tightened to ensure that town centre development is given planning priority, a retail expert has said.

In her independent review of the UK's high streets (55-page / 2MB PDF), TV retail guru Mary Portas called for an "explicit presumption" in favour of town centre development to be included as part of the upcoming major reforms to the planning system.

Included in Portas' 28 recommendations are a relaxation of the planning restrictions that apply to changes of buildings' use; a call for an increase in the application of Local Development Orders, and the reclassification of betting shops as not being financial and professional services to slow down their proliferation on the High Street.

The plans also recommend free controlled parking schemes to increase access to town centres and high street shopping facilities.

Portas said that her recommendations could be a "catalyst for change" if high streets were able to "take risks and become destinations again".

"Local authorities, landlords, retailers and the public need to work together to really animate the spaces they occupy; re-imagined as destinations for retail, socialising, culture, health, wellbeing, creativity and learning," she said.

Portas was asked in May to examine how more prosperous and diverse high streets could  be created. Town centre vacancy rates have doubled over the last two years according to the Government  and  new research (147-page / 2.1MB PDF) shows that a third of high streets are degenerating or failing, with retail floorspace in town centres shrinking by 14% over the last decade. By 2014 less than 40% of retail spending will be on the high street, the research said.

The report acknowledged that the way in which people shop today has changed beyond recognition due to the rise in online and mobile retailing. Against this backdrop, new benchmarks and expectations in terms of value, service, entertainment and experience must be put in place, Portas said.

Planning and retail law expert Jonathan Riley of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, described the review as a "passionate rallying cry" for UK high streets with "much to praise" in its detail.

"Her position on town centre parking, for example, is far better thought out than the press may have us believe; and she has sought out case studies and best practice to support her more practical proposals," he said.

However, the proposals should be viewed in the context of the wider tensions between the localism and the growth agenda, he said.

The review calls for communities to have a greater say and influence over the high street, which is in line with the new neighbourhood planning regime in the Localism Act. New neighbourhood plans are a key opportunity to engage the local community with the High Street, Portas said.

She recommended that the Government build on its Neighbourhood Planning Front Runners programme, where 125 pilot communities are already testing out neighbourhood planning.

Local authorities should make more proactive use of Compulsory Purchase Order powers to encourage the redevelopment of high street retail space, the review said. However, planning law expert Jonathan Riley said this emphasis was "a little puzzling".

"Councils do not have the money to buy up individual empty shops, and developers are unlikely to fund councils to do so unless the numbers stack up," he said.

The review also called for developers to make a financial contribution to ensure that the local community has a strong voice in the planning system.

"Some developers may fear that the proposal for them to pay for communities to have a 'strong voice' in planning – funding local objectors – is like turkeys voting for Christmas," said Riley. "Localists will say it is a logical extension of community consultation and an opportunity for developers to build support, but many developers will simply see this adding to the time and cost of their efforts to regenerate high streets – and will note that the word 'community' appears over 60 times in under 50 pages of the report."

Other recommendations set out in the review are to establish a new 'National Market Day' when budding shopkeepers can try their hand at operating a retail business, and proposals to deregulate the provision and operation of markets by removing restrictions so that anybody can trade.

"Whilst more market stalls might encourage entrepreneurial spirit and can add vitality to a town, existing high street shop fronts may lose visibility and those shops could lose trade," Riley said. "Proposals to relax night-time delivery curfews will not go down well with city centre residents, and the practicalities of unpicking existing planning conditions on deliveries have not been thought through."

However, the report's overall contribution to the retail debate was valuable, he said.

"What really comes through is Portas' passion to power the high street through the next 50 years. While there are no instant fixes to give retailers a Merry Christmas in 2011, there are potentially some easy political wins for the year ahead," he said. "We now need a positive industry debate followed by a firm response from Government alongside the NPPF in March."

The Government said that it would review the recommendations and publish its response in the spring 2012.

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