Town centres & retail planning news, June 2018
01 Jun 2018
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Parliamentary inquiry: high streets and town centres in 2030
The House of Commons HCLG Committee launched a new inquiry on 10 May, looking into the future of high streets and town centres in England in 2030.
The inquiry will examine:
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the future role of the high street in contributing to the local economy and the health, cohesion and cultural life of the local community; and
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‘the challenges faced amid changing demographic, technological and other trends in recent decades’.
The Committee will also look at how the future of high streets and town centres are being planned for in local areas, and how stakeholders are ‘planning for and creating the conditions to sustain them in the years ahead’. In addition, the inquiry will examine whether councils have the planning, licensing, tax raising ‘and other tools needed to help local areas flourish’.
In considering what high streets and town centres will look like in 2030, submitters are given the following list of matters they may want to address:
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The role of high streets and town centres in contributing to the local economy and the health, wellbeing, cohesion and cultural life of the local community;
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The economic, demographic, social and technological challenges facing high streets and town centres and how they are likely to develop over the next ten years;
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How high streets and town centres are adapting to meet these challenges, the conditions necessary for sustainability, for example, residential development and related infrastructure, and how local areas are planning for the future;
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The outlook for high streets and town centres that cannot rely on consumer spending and business growth and investment;
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Whether councils have the planning, licensing, tax raising and other tools needed to help local areas flourish and how they make use of these; and
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The legacy of the Government’s previous work on the high street, including the Portas Pilots, the Future High Streets Forum and the Great British High Street.
The closing date for written submissions is 22 June 2018.
House of Commons HCLG Committee, High streets and town centres in 2030 inquiry launched
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Quote of the month |
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| Clive Betts MP, Chair of the House of Commons MHCLG Committee, announcing a new inquiry on 10 May, looking at the future of England’s high streets and town centres in 2030. | ||
Implications of high street retail closures
During a short House of Commons debate highlighting growing concerns arising from recently announced high street retailer closures, Minister for Energy and Clean Growth Claire Perry outlined the activities of both the new Retail Sector Council and the Future High Streets Forum.
The Minister commented:
‘There is definitely a rotation in the way in which we all shop. I am sure that we all now buy many more of our unmentionable items online—sometimes we even buy them in stores […]. We should all think hard about what we can do as individuals, particularly to support our local authorities, which are often responsible for planning, decision making, rates setting and parking decisions, all of which can have a material impact on the high street experience.’
House of Commons Hansard, Marks and Spencer debate, 24 May 2018
Regulations made for pre-commencement conditions
On 3 May, two statutory instruments were made by the Government in relation to s14 (‘Restrictions on power to impose planning conditions’) of the Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017.
Commencement regulations provide that s14(1) and (3) will come into force on 1 October 2018, bringing into force parts of s100ZA of the Act, which specifies that planning permission for the development of land may not be granted subject to a pre-commencement condition without the written agreement of the applicant.
The related pre-commencement conditions’ Regulations, made in exercise of the powers conferred by s100ZA(6), provide that the requirement for a written response by the applicant does not apply where the local planning authority (or the Secretary of State) has given notice to the applicant of the intention to grant the permission subject to pre-commencement condition(s) and the applicant does not provide a ‘substantive response’ to the notice before the expiry of a 10 working days period from when the notice was served.
The Regulations do not go as far as expected; in the Government response to the consultation, a number of respondents requested that exceptions should be made to the requirement for applicants to agree certain pre-commencement conditions, notably for matters regarding heritage, nature conservation and environmental protection. Such exemptions were originally proposed when the Neighbourhood Planning Bill was published in 2016, but had disappeared by the time of the first ‘indicative draft’ regulations in December 2016. Accordingly, no such exceptions have been made, and where complications arise and an applicant does not agree to a condition relating to such matters, the authority will refuse permission.
For more details of the potential implications of the new secondary legislation when it comes into force, our blog looks at some procedural matters that may well need to be ironed out between applicants and planning authorities.
The Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017 (Commencement No.5) Regulations 2018The Town and Country Planning (Pre-commencement Conditions) Regulations 2018MHCLG, Government response to the consultation on pre-commencement conditions regulationsLichfields Planning Matters: New procedures for pre-commencement conditions come into effect from October 2018
Government still targets end of July for revised NPPF
It was reported from the National Planning Summit held in early May that the Government still expects to publish the revised NPPF by the end of July, despite an overwhelming volume of responses to the consultation that closed on 10 May.
Chief Planner Steve Quartermain was reported as saying there had been more than 27,000 responses, although this total includes multiple submissions from campaign groups (including 5,000 duplicate responses seeking better protection for veteran trees).
Newly formed Heritage Council intends to help ensure sector thrives
On 3 May, DCMS announced a newly formed ‘Heritage Council’ that ‘seeks to strengthen the link between the country’s heritage and the wider regeneration and place-making agenda as well as helping government to best support the heritage sector’.
The Council is intended to create closer links between the Government and the heritage sector, to ‘enable dialogue to drive progress in key policy areas affecting heritage’. In addition, it is proposed that the Council and government will work together on issues such as planning, environmental protection, social and economic development, and education.
The core members of the Heritage Council are: DCMS; DEFRA; MHCLG; HMT; Historic England; The Heritage Lottery Fund; The Heritage Alliance; Natural England; The National Trust and Historic Houses.
DCMS, Newly formed Heritage Council will help ensure sector thrives
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The Lichfields perspective |
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| Steven Butterworth, Senior Director | ||
Disclaimer: This publication has been written in general terms and cannot be relied on to cover specific situations. We recommend that you obtain professional advice before acting or refraining from acting on any of the contents of this publication. Lichfields accepts no duty of care or liability for any loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining from acting as a result of any material in this publication. Lichfields is the trading name of Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners Limited. Registered in England, no.2778116