Planning Shake-Up
By Graham Parker | Published: 01 January, 2010
The Government released its long-awaited revisions to the Planning Policy Statement 4 (PPS4) planning guidance note between Christmas and the New Year, traditionally seen by civil servants as a time to bury bad news. But far from proving controversial, the new guidance has been broadly welcomed.
Firstly, the new guidance note – subtitled Planning for Sustainable Economic Growth – is simpler, running to just 32 pages against the previous 137. But in policy terms it reinforces the long-established preference for town centre development over out-of-town.
According to Housing and Planning Minister John Healey, it ties planning and economic development policies closer together in order to support sustainable economic growth while protecting local markets and small shops.
The revised guidelines keep the existing ‘sequential test’ for town planners, which requires the most central town centre sites to be developed first, with edge-of-town seen as the next best option and out-of-town sites seen as a last resort. Under the test, an out-of-town site can only be developed if the applicants can prove that no suitable sites exist in-town..
But in addition to this, a tougher ‘impact test’ is also being introduced. This will replace the existing ‘needs test’, which the Government described as ‘dysfunctional’ because it could unintentionally stifle diversity and consumer choice in town. In some cases, new shops in town centres were ruled out because out-of-town stores, especially supermarkets, already provided that function.
protection
The change to an ‘impact test’ is designed to strengthen local authorities’ case in resisting new developments that threaten existing town centres on economic, social and environmental grounds. It will test whether impact is positive or negative on climate change, town centre consumer choice and retail diversity, investment and town centre trade and gives councils powers to cap the size of new retail developments where this is justified.
However one widely-expected change does not appear in the new PPS4, and that is the competition test for supermarkets. As recently as October 2009 a Competition Commission investigation into the UK grocery market called for the test which would require local authorities to assess planning applications for new grocery floorspace over 1,000 sq m for their impacts on competition, in consultation with the Office of Fair Trading.
The Government says it will formally respond to the Commission’s recommendations, including the competition test proposal shortly, but it claims the new PPS4 provides strong protection for town centres and will reassure town centre managers and independent retailers up and down the country.
Introducing the new policy, Healey said: “As the country moves towards economic recovery, the Government is putting in place new protections for local shops at the heart of communities as many high streets have been hit hard by a double whammy of the downturn and out-of-town retail parks.
“By strengthening the hand of local councils, we are giving them the expert tools they need to put the viability and vitality of town centres first in difficult market conditions. The new tools go further than ever before to protect town centres from the harm large out-of-town developments can have.”
Planning experts said the new policy is unlikely to make a substantial contribution to economic growth, but they conceded that it is likely to help smaller, independent retailers.
Mark Dodds, a partner at planning consultancy DPP, said: “The publication of PPS4 is very welcome and there are some very sensible changes, such as the removal of the needs test.
“However it is our opinion that it will do little to achieve the Government’s aims of stimulating sustainable economic development in any meaningful way. Larger and multiple retailers will, if anything, find it harder to push proposed developments past committed local councillors, particularly for small format retailing in local centres or rural areas.”
confusion
But Dodds, who advises Tesco among others, also says PPS4 is riddled with errors that developers and local authorities will undoubtedly find confusing and frustrating. “We have noticed a number of errors in the guidance accompanying PPS4,” he said, “most notably an annex that states that PPS4 cancels provisions in PPS7, relating to major developments in areas of outstanding natural beauty. The Department of Communities and Local Government has since confirmed that this is not the case.”
And he warned that while PPS4 may be a consolidation of policy relating to economic development and town centres, it will not simplify the process of getting planning consent.
“Developers will be well advised to make representations to the local development framework process as new limits and thresholds are set for retail development,” said Dodds. “They may also wish to influence assessments of need and capacity that are now set only at strategic level. Impact assessments will as a result become more complex.”
And David Jones, director at the planning division of Evans Jones, warned that the new policy could add to the workload of hard-pressed local authorities. “The PPS requires local authorities to maintain up-to-date survey data to assist in the identification of economic and property challenges to be considered in plan making, review and development control decisions,” he said. “The requirement for local authorities to prepare and subsequently maintain the survey data will place greater strain upon already stretched planning departments.”
According to Jones the Government clearly wishes to strengthen local authorities’ armoury to enable them to resist inappropriate out-of-town developments. But he cautioned: “The effectiveness of polices of restraint may be questionable in cases where local authorities fail to either collate or subsequently maintain accurate and robust data upon existing retail centres.
And he concluded: “Time will tell whether in the current climate the PPS will actually have any discernable impact. While retailing remains depressed and many town centre retail outlets remain vacant local authorities will seek to protect and improve the viability of existing centres. However, if local authorities fail to collect appropriate data, then it could prove difficult for them to defend appeals for new out-of-town retailing.
