Diversity Briefing Note Feb 2010
The latest in our series of Briefing Notes looks at retail diversity. The Association of Convenience Stores have also recently published a report on this topic - see their press release for details.

Retail Vacancy Briefing Note Jan 2010
A timely Briefing Note, prepared by the Institute for Retail Studies at the University of Stirling, considers patterns of retail vacancies.

Making Public Data public? Jan 2010
Recent welcome initiatives by central Government and also the Greater London Authority aim to make more of their data more easily available to all. There isn't too much new directly relevant data as yet but both sites are in their early stages and should develop. See also CLG's new Places Database.

PPS4 and Guidance released Dec 2009
The new Planning Policy Statement 4: Planning for Sustainable Economic Growth has now been issued along with the guidance document Planning for Town Centres: Practice guidance on need, impact and the sequential approach and the responses to the consultation draft. See also the press release.

London Town Centre Healthchecks Dec 2009
The Greater London Authority has published an analysis of the state of over 200 of its town centres using a wide range of indicators, including an examination of change over time.

Retail Development Pipeline Dec 2009
BSCS and Lunson Mitchenall have published a research paper looking at current trends in the development pipeline and future prospects. BCSC have also written to the Chancellor ahead of the pre-budget report, setting out recommendations to revitalise the pipeline.

Education for Retail Planning Nov 2009
The scoping paper prepared for the NPRF considering the current state of retail planning education and how it might be improved has been revised.